After a three-year move away to Gatwick Racecourse during the war, the 1919 Grand National saw the race move back to its home at Aintree Racecourse. For three years, from 1916 to 1918, the race was run at Gatwick, run under a different name but offering a very similar test.
The racecourse was used as a war office during those years, meaning an alternative venue was needed, but this was the year when everything returned to Aintree.
But in 1919, it was firmly back, and a familiar face entered the winner’s enclosure. Poethlyn took the race by a winning distance of 8 lengths, following up his win in the unofficial Grand National of 1918 at Gatwick.
The success makes him the only horse to have the quirky record of winning two Grand Nationals but doing so across two different racecourses, despite them being back-to-back wins.
Despite a lot going off in the country at the time, the return of the Grand National was signalled as a step in the right direction, and punters certainly got behind the winner, too. He was sent off as the 11/4 favourite to win the race, making him the shortest-priced winner of all time on the back of how impressive he was at Gatwick.
The ground was good to soft, and unusually for the time, half of the field were able to complete the course, with 11 of the 22 runners doing so.
Trainer Harry Escott Lands Third Grand National

Trainer Harry Escott was winning the third Grand National as a trainer when landing the prize in 1919. He won the race a year earlier with Poethyln, down at Gatwick Racecourse, and also landed the contest in 1909 with Lutteur III.
Over a period of 30+ years, he sent runners to the Grand National, and considering the numbers he sent, his record in the end was very impressive.
Escott had a total of 18 Grand National runners in 32 years, with three of them winning. On top of that, he had a further four horses place in the race, two second placed finishers and two third placed finishers.
Eight of his 18 runners would finish, so of the eight that completed the course, seven of them managed a place or win.
With his 1919 success, he did not only train the winner Poethlyn but also trained the third placed horse, Pollen, so Escott accounted for two of the first three home.
Winning Jockey Ernest Piggott Wins Third Grand National

Escott wasn’t the only person winning his third Grand National on the day, as jockey Ernest Piggott would also achieve the same here.
Back-to-back wins accounted for two of their three successes coming together, with the first one being with other people.
For Piggott, his first Grand National success came in 1912, when he rode Jerry M to victory at Aintree. He would place in his first ever ride, in 1899, on Elliman, who would finish third.
Alongside winning the Grand National on three occasions, he would also be crowned as British champion jockey on three occasions too, further adding to his accolades.
He is the first person from the Piggott family to make a real impact in racing, but certainly not the last, as he began one of the most well-known racing families of the 1900s.
Son, Keith Piggott, was a leading jumps jockey before turning to training and winning the Grand National as a trainer. Then, his grandson, Lester Piggott, would make waves as a jockey, becoming the flat champion jockey a total of 11 times, carrying on the family name throughout the 1900s.
Results
Result | Horse | Starting Price | Age | Handicap | Prize Money | Jockey | Trainer |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Poethlyn | 11/4 | 9 | 12-7 | £3590 | Ernest Piggott | Harry Escott |
2 | Ballyboggan | 9/1 | 8 | 11-10 | - | W Head | Fotherstomhangh |
3 | Pollen | 100/7 | 10 | 11-4 | - | Tony Escott | Harry Escott |
4 | Loch Allen | 33/1 | 8 | 10-00 | - | John Kelly | Robert Gore |
5 | Shaun Spadah | 33/1 | 8 | 11-2 | - | Richard Morgan | G Hyams |
6 | Fargue | 50/1 | 9 | 9-9 | - | W Smith | Alfred Newey |
7 | Sergeant Murphy | 25/1 | 9 | 10-7 | - | Spink Walkington | G Hyams |
8 | All White | 66/1 | 5 | 9-10 | - | T Williams | Burns |
9 | Ally Sloper | 100/1 | 10 | 11-3 | - | Ivor Anthony | Aubrey Hastings |
10 | Pay Only | 100/7 | 9 | 11-4 | - | Tom Hulme | W P Hanley |
11 | Chang | 50/1 | 9 | 9-8 | - | John Reardon | F Hunt |
Non Finishers
Horse | Fence | Reason | Starting Price | Age | Handicap | Jockey | Trainer |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Picture Saint | Water Jump | Fell | 100/1 | 7 | 10-00 | F McCabe | H Ussher |
Svetoi | Bechers Brook 1ST CIR | Fell | 40/1 | 9 | 9-7 | A Saxby | William Payne |
Schoolmoney | Bechers Brook 2ND CIR | Fell | 33/1 | 10 | 9-10 | Frank Cullen | A Law |
Rubinstein | Anchor Bridge Crossing 2ND CIR | Fell | 50/1 | 12 | 11-00 | William John Payne | William Payne |
Sunloch | Bechers Brook 2ND CIR | Pulled Up | 25/1 | 13 | 9-10 | Edmund Driscoll | T Tyler |
Vermouth | Canal Turn 2ND CIR | Fell | 20/1 | 9 | 10-12 | Georges Parfrement | James Bell |
Ballincarroona | 4 | Pulled Up | 20/1 | 11 | 9-13 | Ian Straker | Frank Hartigan |
Charlbury | 4 | Pulled Up | 7/1 | 11 | 9-7 | Percy Woodland | William Nightingall |
Irish Dragoon | 20 | Pulled Up | 100/1 | 5 | 9-8 | Henry Bryan Bletsoe | Richard Dawson |
Abou Ben Adhem | 20 | Fell | 100/1 | 8 | 12-00 | A Stubbs | Robert Gore |
The Turk II | 21 | Fell | 100/1 | 9 | 9-7 | Peter Roberts | Aubrey Hastings |