The Grand National of 1880 was won by Empress, who was the first home of 14 runners in this particular year. He would win the race at odds of 8/1, so he was fancied by plenty of people but not sent off as the favourite on the day.
He would come away to win the race by two lengths, which was run on ground that was described as good on the day.
This would be the one and only time that Empress would run in the Grand National, leaving him to retire with a perfect record in the race.
The winning trainer was Henry Linde, a man who often had multiple Grand National runners during the main years of his career. This would be the first of two wins in the race he would have, and they would be back-to-back wins in the race, as he landed it a year later with Woodbrook.
Joining Linde with the back-to-back wins was jockey Tommy Beasley, a man who, at the time, got the pick of what to ride from the Linde yard. This would also be the first Grand National success of his career, after some near misses before.
He would go on to complete the double with Linde when they teamed up with Woodbrook a year later, and then Beasley would have another winner in the race to make it three for him in 1889.
The Linde/Beasley combo almost made it three wins in three years when Cyrus was beaten by a head in the 1882 Grand National, cruelly denying them a historic treble.
Results
| Result | Horse | Starting Price | Age | Handicap | Prize Money | Jockey | Trainer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Empress | 8/1 | 5 | 10-7 | £1145 | Tommy Beasley | Henry Linde |
| 2 | The Liberator | 11/2 | 11 | 12-7 | - | Garrett Moore | J H Moore |
| 3 | Downpatrick | 100/15 | 6 | 10-7 | - | P Gavin | William Reeves |
| 4 | Jupiter Tonans | 50/1 | 7 | 10-5 | - | John Lee-Barber | J H Moore |
| 5 | Woodbrook | 25/1 | 6 | 11-7 | - | Harry Beasley Snr | Henry Linde |
| 6 | Wild Monarch | 11/2 | 9 | 11-11 | - | Robert I’Anson Jr | Robert I’Anson Jr |
| 7 | Victor II | 50/1 | 6 | 10-7 | - | Capt William Morris | Garrett Moore |
| 8 | Victoria (2) | 100/7 | 7 | 10-7 | - | Johnny Beasley | Garrett Moore |
| 9 | Dainty | 66/1 | 14 | 10-2 | - | Sam Darling | Sam Darling |
Non Finishers
| Horse | Fence | Reason | Starting Price | Age | Handicap | Jockey | Trainer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St George (1) | 2 | Refused | 25/1 | 7 | 10-2 | G Levitt | John Nightingall |
| Sleight Of Hand | 1 | Refused | 50/1 | 9 | 10-4 | John Childs | J Chandler |
| Regal | 2 | Fell | 5/1 | 9 | 11-11 | Joe Cannon | James Jewitt |
| Shifnal | Pulled Up | 20/1 | 11 | 11-11 | Arthur Smith (1) | John Nightingall | |
| Gunlock | 2 | Fell | 33/1 | 6 | 10-5 | Henry Davis | W Weston |