1881 Grand National: Results, Runners & Fallers

The 1881 Grand National saw a small field of 13 runners go to post, with nine of those completing the course.

Coming home as the winner was Woodbrook, who would come home at a starting price of 6/1, well fancied by those on course, after gaining vital experience a year earlier when finishing 5^th in the race.

The winner would take the race by a winning distance of four lengths from Regal, a previous winner, who was back in second.

Going on the day was described as heavy, so this was a tough race for the participants to handle, and while nine managed to get around, none of them handled it as good as Woodbrook.

It was a familiar trainer and jockey combo that took the race because it was the same duo that won the 1880 Grand National a year earlier with a different horse.

Training the winner was Henry Linde, while the winning rider was Tommy Beasley. These two would repeat their success of 1880, which came with the horse Empress. Beasley was the top rider for Linde at the time. He chose which horse to ride, opting to go against Woodbrook a year earlier but then choosing to ride him in 1881 when he would win.

The pair almost made it three in a row a year later, this time with a different horse, as they finished second in 1882 with Cyrus. He went to the front and looked as though he was going to take the race with ease, only to be caught in the dying strides and eventually beaten by a head.

Back-to-back Grand National successes are difficult for anyone in any year, so seeing a jockey and trainer combo do it together here was a big deal in racing at the time.

The two wins in this period would be the only two victories in the race for trainer Linde, although his record in the race was very good, he would have six placed runners, including three that finished second.

Winning jockey Beasley would have a total of three winners in the Grand National. He would add a success on Frigate in 1889 to his tally for a different trainer. He would also have a great race record, three wins and two seconds, and in total, from his 12 rides in the race, he would complete the course in 10 of them, never finishing worse than 5^th.

Results

Non Finishers