1883 Grand National: Results, Runners & Fallers

If you discount the first three races, which are classed as unofficial Grand Nationals because it was run under a different name, then the 1883 Grand National goes down in history as the one that had the smallest ever field.

Just ten runners would go to post for this contest, and it would be run on heavy ground, with tough conditions facing the runners and riders who took part.

The winner of the race was Zoedone, a horse who was having his second attempt at winning the race at Aintree. Sent off at odds of 100/8, he was coming here on the back of a solid effort a year earlier, when he would finish third in the race, and put his experience to good use here.

W.Jenkins was the trainer of Zoedone, and this would be the only time he would have a runner in the Grand National. Despite the horse running both before and after this in the race, he was trained by other people for all of those other runs.

Charlies Kinsky was the winning jockey, a man who would have three Grand National rides during his career, and they would all come on this horse. After winning the race on him in 1883, he kept the ride for the following two seasons, and he would never ride anything else in the race.

Of those two races after this win, Zoedone would fail to match his success, finishing sixth a year later when defending his title and falling in 1885 in what would be his last run. Due to his success in the race, he was made to carry a lot of weight in those two runs.

It’s highly unlikely we will ever see a race field this small again, so discounting the unofficial runnings of the Grand National, 1883 will be the one that attracted the smallest ever field.

Results

Non Finishers