1938 Grand National: Results, Runners & Fallers

If you want a Grand National with stories inside of the race, then the 1938 Grand National is certainly one of those.

The winner on the day was Battleship, who would take the contest in a photo finish, with Royal Danieli in second and Workman in third, who would go on to win the race 12 months later.

Conditions were described as good to firm, and 36 horses would run in the race, with 13 of those finishing the race.

It was a family affair, and one that held some tragedy in the future too.

Frankly, 1938 was one of the more interesting renewals of the world’s most famous race.

Father & Son Duo Win Grand National

Reg Hobbs was the winning trainer in 1938, training Battleship to victory. He had a total of nine Grand National runners during his career, but only two of them actually managed to complete the course.

One of those to do so was Battleship, which landed this one at a very close finish.

However, it was a family affair for Hobbs because the winning rider this year was Bruce Hobbs, his son. A very talented rider, he would make his Grand National debut 12 months earlier at just 16 years old, falling towards the end of the race on Flying Minutes, who was also trained by his father.

However, they would go a lot better in 1938 and partnered together on Battleship to claim the one and only Grand National win for the pair of them.

Career-Changing Injury for Young Jockey Bruce Hobbs

There is a lot more to the story of Bruce Hobbs, and many regard him as someone who could have gone on to be great in the saddle, but a bad injury early in his career would end hopes of that.

When winning the Grand National, at the time, Hobbs became both the youngest and tallest jockey to win the race. The win came just three months after his 17^th birthday.

Two weeks after winning the Grand National, he won the Welsh National on Timber Wolf and then after that, he won the Cedarhurst National, and in doing so, became the first ever jockey to win three Grand Nationals in one year.

Taking those big prizes as part of his 35 winners in total that season, the sky really was the limit for Hobbs at a very young age.

But promise was shown before that. He rode ten winners as an amateur before his 16^th birthday. He turned professional and was set for his first Grand National ride in 1937 on Battleship. However, the horse was withdrawn.

Hobbs would still have a ride, though. He instead partnered Flying Minutes, who his dad also trained. The pair were among the leaders when falling at fence 27.

But after a superb start to his career, three National wins, including the big one, tragedy would strike for Hobbs, which would completely change his career path.

Rather than going to the top of the sport, as many had predicted, a fall later in 1938 would leave him with multiple injuries, including a broken spine. At the time, Hobbs was told he would never ride again, but he did manage to get back in the saddle, although he wasn’t the same rider as before the incident.

However, this part of his career was short-lived, and he decided to end hopes of making it to the top on the back of horses and instead turned to training them, beginning his training career at 25.

A Helping Hand from Fred Rimell

One of the great stories that came out of the 1938 Grand National would come after the race, and it involved Fred Rimell.

He would go on to win the Grand National four times as a trainer, known as Mr Grand National by many. He never won it as a jockey, but got credited with an assist in this particular year.

The eventual winner, Battleship, cut his chin when hitting the floor on landing at the sixth fence but was able to keep in the race.

However, he caught the seventh fence all wrong, sharply veering to take it, and the whole incident saw jockey Hobbs thrown from the saddle.

He would have come off the horse completely was it not for Rimell, who was close to him at the moment it happened and pushed his fellow rider back into the saddle to keep him on the horse.

Without that intervention, Battleship and Hobbs would not have won the race in 1938.

The Unique Career of Battleship

While there’s plenty to talk about with the people who surrounded the winner of this particular year, there’s also a lot to talk about when it comes to the horse himself.

Battleship is undoubtedly not your average Grand National runner and winner. Firstly, he’s an American bred runner, which is rare to see, and secondly, he’s the first horse to ever complete the American Grand National and Aintree Grand National double.

He was a very small horse, built well, but small, and when the Grand National came around, many pundits highlighted this, saying that he was not big enough to be able to jump around the fences at Aintree.

He was initially a flat runner before being bought and switched to jump racing later in his career. This would begin in the USA, winning three out of four in his first season. A year later, he won the 1934 American Grand National, the most prestigious jumps race in America.

Then, in 1936, he was sent to the UK to continue his career with Reg Hobbs. The plan was to go and run in the 1937 Grand National, but at the last minute, a change was made to the plan.

Hobbs believed the horse had not trained during his time in the UK and was better kept for the following year. Before running in the 1938 Grand National, Battleship had won five of his 13 races on UK soil.

But that didn’t stop him from landing the race in 38, defying the critics who said the horse was not big enough for Aintree, and bringing great celebration to the Hobbs family.

He would set another record when landing the win, becoming the first entire colt to win the race since 1901, which was won by Grudon.

In 1938, Battleship returned home to America, sailing across the Atlantic, with trainer and jockey by his side, as both Hobbs accompanied him.

They were met by a big crowd when docking in New York, including the Mayor, who came out to celebrate the big equine achievement.

As an entire, he would stand at stud in America after his return in 1958 and was the sire to some big race winners during that period, from the 58 foals he had.

Results

Non Finishers