1896 Grand National: Results, Runners & Fallers

The Soarer would come home to win the 1896 Grand National. It was a narrow success in the end, with a recorded winning distance of one and a half lengths.

He was sent off with an SP of 40/1 and was not fancied at all on the day by punters, but that didn’t stop him from finding enough to tough it out and win the contest.

A previous winner of the race, Father O’Flynn, would come home in second, almost becoming a two-time winner but just falling short.

A total of 28 runners would go to post for this race, and nine of them would manage to complete the course. It was a pretty tough test overall, with the ground described as good to soft, soft in places.

This was the first time that The Soarer had run in the Grand National, and it would be the only time he would win and also the only time he would be able to complete the course.

For the following two years, he would return to Aintree, but in both 1897 and 1898, he fell in the contest.

The winning trainer was Willie Moore, and this was the middle of three Grand National victories for him, he had a very strong record in the race. His first win would be in 1894, two years previous with Why Not and then he would train Manifesto to victory in 1899, to make it three Grand National career wins.

With a further five placed efforts, three wins and five places in 17 years gave him a very good Grand National record at the time.

The winning jockey was David Campbell, and the only two rides he would have in the race both came on this horse, firstly here and then secondly a year later when trying to defend his crown.

Winning Jockey Sells Horse Just Weeks Before Grand National Win

Although David Campbell was able to call himself a Grand National-winning rider, he was close to being able to call himself something else.

He was also the rider and owner of The Soarer until a few weeks before this Grand National attempt.

At the time, we don’t know why, but Campbell decided it was time to sell The Soarer, with fellow Scotsman William Walker becoming the owner of the horse.

There was clearly no falling out between the pair about it because Campbell kept the ride in 1896 despite selling the horse and then rode him a year after when they came back to Aintree.

However, had he kept hold of the horse then Campbell would have been able to call himself a winning Grand National owner, as well as being a winning rider.

Results

Non Finishers