The 1921 Grand National saw Shaun Spadah win the race aged 10, in what can only be described as dreadful conditions.
Ground conditions on the day were described as heavy and that led to a number of casualties in the race. Thirty-five horses would begin the race, and only four were able to complete the course, a very small number.
However, to make it even more bizarre, the winner, Shaun Spadah, was the only one of those to complete the course without falling, the 2nd, 3rd and 4th runners all fell and were remounted to finish.
That left Shaun Spadah out in front to take the race comfortably, the winning distance as just officially recorded as a distance, with the remounted The Bore, who was sent off favourite, finishing in second place.
Shaun Spadah was returned at odds of 100/9, and this was the third of his six Grand National attempts. He had shown a great love for the race and was very good at getting around the course. He completed five of those six attempts to win it. They included finishing second when trying to win the race again in 1923.
George Poole was the winning trainer, a man who sent plenty of runners to the Grand National, but only Shaun Spadah gave him any kind of success. He saw his runner complete the course four times from 16 attempts, and of those four occasions, three of them were Shaun Spadah.
Dick Rees was the winning jockey, he would take this race in 1921 before watching his brother Lewis Rees win the race a year later in 1922.
Dick recorded a second on Shaun Spadah as well, but nothing else during his ten attempts, completing four of them, three of those being on this runner, who gave both jockey and trainer their best Grand National moments.
Results
Result | Horse | Starting Price | Age | Handicap | Prize Money | Jockey | Trainer |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Shaun Spadah | 100/9 | 10 | 11-7 | £7060 | Dick Rees | G Poole |
2 | The Bore | 3/1 | 10 | 11-8 | - | Harry A Brown | Harry A Brown |
3 | All White | 33/1 | 7 | 10-13 | - | Robert Chadwick | J Fergusson |
4 | Turkey Buzzard | 100/9 | 8 | 12-2 | - | Tuppy Bennet | William Payne |