2001 Grand National: Results, Runners & Fallers

Results

The 2001 Grand National will be widely remembered for many reasons. The foot and mouth outbreak threatened the race and forced the abandonment of the Cheltenham Festival just a month earlier.

There was also the fact that just four of the 40 runners finished the race, and two of those were remounted to finish after falling. Don’t let that overshadow the feat of Richard Guest, either. He officially rode the winner, Red Marauder, and unofficially trained it to victory, with a license held by winning owner Norman Mason.

Results

Result Horse Starting Price Age Handicap Prize Money Jockey Trainer
1 Red Marauder 33/1 11 10-11 £310,000 Richard Guest Norman B Mason
2 Smarty 16/1 8 10-00 £110,000 Timmy Murphy Mark Pitman
3 Blowing Wind 16/1 8 10-9 £55,000 Tony McCoy Martin Pipe
4 Papillon 14/1 10 11-4 £25,000 Ruby Walsh Ted Walsh

Non Finishers

Horse Fence Reason Starting Price Age Handicap Jockey Trainer
Spanish Main 1 Unseated Rider 25/2 7 9-11 Jamie Goldstein Nigel Twiston-Davies
Art Prince 1 Fell 150/1 11 9-8 Jim Crowley Martin Pipe
Hanakham 2 Fell 100/1 12 10-11 Barry Geraghty Donald ‘Ginger’ McCain
Tresor De Mai 2 Fell 66/1 7 11-2 Rodi Greene Martin Pipe
Addington Boy 2 Unseated Rider 33/1 13 10-11 John P McNamara Ferdy Murphy
Kaki Crazy 3 Fell 66/1 6 9-11 Rodney Farrant Martin Pipe
Paddy's Return 3 Unseated Rider 16/1 9 9-9 Adrian Maguire Ferdy Murphy
Hollybank Buck 3 Fell 20/1 11 9-13 Fran Flood A J Martin
Earthmover 4 Unseated Rider 22/1 10 11-2 Joe Tizzard Paul Nicholls
Inis Cara 4 Fell 10/1 9 10-3 Robert Widger Venetia Williams
The Last Fling 5 Unseated Rider 20/1 11 10-12 Seamus Durack Sue Smith
Strong Tel 6 Fell 33/1 11 10-11 David Casey Martin Pipe
Northern Starlight 6 Unseated Rider 50/1 10 10-7 Tom Scudamore Martin Pipe
Exit Swinger 6 Fell 50/1 6 10-5 Chris Maude Martin Pipe
Merry People 7 Unseated Rider 66/1 13 9-8 Garrett Cotter John Queally
Lance Armstrong 8 Refused 50/1 11 9-11 Andrew Thornton R H Alner
Moral Support 8 Refused 10/1 9 10-9 Noel Fehily Charlie Mann
Mely Moss 8 Brought Down 14/1 10 10-5 Norman Williamson Charles Egerton
Djeddah 8 Unseated Rider 33/1 10 10-11 Thierry Doumen Francois Doumen
General Wolfe 8 Unseated Rider 50/1 12 11-00 Brian Crowley Venetia Williams
Village King 8 Brought Down 25/1 8 9-12 Jim Culloty Philip Hobbs
Feels Like Gold 8 Refused 50/1 13 9-10 Brian Harding Nicky Richards
Dark Stranger (2) 8 Refused 25/1 10 10-3 Kieran Kelly Martin Pipe
Amberleigh House 8 Brought Down 150/1 9 10-5 Warren Marston Donald ‘Ginger’ McCain
You're Agoodun 8 Brought Down 28/1 9 10-1 Rupert Wakeley Martin Pipe
Mister One 9 Unseated Rider 50/1 10 9-8 Leslie Jefford Colin Tizzard
Esprit De Cotte 11 Refused 33/1 9 9-11 Tom Doyle Nicky Henderson
Noble Lord 13 Fell 25/1 8 10-5 Jimmy McCarthy Richard Phillips
Edmond 15 Fell 10/1 9 10-1 Richard Johnson OBE Henry Daly
Supreme Charm 15 Unseated Rider 33/1 9 9-8 Robert Thornton Kim Bailey
Moondigua 15 Refused 100/1 9 9-12 Shay Barry Martin Pipe
No Retreat 16 Pulled Up 100/1 8 10-1 Jason Maguire S A Brookshaw
Listen Timmy 16 Pulled Up 100/1 12 10-3 Tony Dobbin Alan King
Unsinkable Boxer 19 Refused 66/1 12 10-10 Dean Gallagher R H Alner
Brave Highlander 19 Refused 33/1 13 10-00 Philip Hide Josh Gifford
Beau 20 Unseated Rider 12/1 8 11-10 Carl Llewellyn Nigel Twiston-Davies

What Happened In The 2001 Grand National?

Red Marauder plaque Aintree with interesting factsA winning time of over 11 minutes will tell you all you need to know about the going on the day, which was officially described as heavy on the day. This was the slowest time recorded for the winner in over 100 years.

The race will be long talked about due to the number of runners finishing. Many fallers, plus the tough going, both accounted for that, just four crossed the finishing line, and only two of those got round unscathed. The other two were both remounted after errors to complete.

Red Marauder was the winner, taking the race at 33/1 to win by what is described as ‘a distance’. Following him home was Smarty, ridden by Timmy Murphy and these two were the only two runners to get around cleanly. Both Tony McCoy and Ruby Walsh decided to remount their runners when they noticed just two were left in the field, they did so and came home to finish third and fourth. You have to go back to 1980 to find the last time only four runners finished the race.

In terms of the contest itself, this wasn’t a very good one. Smarty led for some time, but at the second last he began to tire with Red Marauder coming upside him and ultimately pulling clear. Smarty continued and jumped over the last two fences to come home in second place, well ahead of the two remounted runners.

The SP of the winner was 33/1, while Smart was second at 16/1, Blowing Wind was the same price in third and Papillon was 14/1 in fourth. Edmond, Moral Support and Inis Cara were all sent off the 10/1 co-favourites, and all failed to finish.

Red Marauder Ridden And Trained By Richard Guest

When you look at the official records, they will say Richard Guest rode the winner, and the trainer was Norman Mason, who also owned the horse. However, Guest was the man that also trained this horse in County Durham.

He played a full part in not only riding the winner, but also training him to the moment, ensuring he was in the best possible shape on the day, and the horse clearly enjoyed going round in the tough conditions.

Foot And Mouth Almost Causes Abandonment

The foot and mouth outbreak in the UK led to the abandonment of the Cheltenham Festival, just a month before the Grand National and there was talk that the big Aintree meeting would also be subject to the same.

However, a lot of hard work, extra checks and cleaning, and more visibility from vets and others around the stable area was enough for the race and full meeting to go ahead.

Aintree Criticised For Running In Conditions

The race was not without its critics, with the main issue being the conditions that the race was run in. Those defending the course will state that 30 of the 40 runners fell or were brought down, which was a high number, but not due to the ground.

However, the ground certainly made some struggle and played its part on the day. Thankfully, all horses and jockeys were reported to be fine after the race, with no major injuries

Moments Of Note

  • Just four of the 40 runners completed the race, with two of those finishing after being remounted
  • The winning time of more than 11 minutes was the slowest in over 100 years
  • Although not officially down as trainer, winning jockey Richard Guest also trained Red Marauder ahead of the race
  • Foot and mouth abandoned the Cheltenham Festival, but Aintree was able to run the Grand National in its usual slot, a month after the festival