1836 Grand Liverpool Steeplechase

1838 Grand Liverpool Steeplechase
Grand Liverpool Steeplechase
Location	Aintree
Date	29 February 1836
Winning horse	The Duke
SP	3/1
Jockey	Captain Martin Becher
1837 →

The 1836 Grand Liverpool Steeplechase was the first of three unofficial annual precursors of a steeplechase which later became known as the Grand National.

The steeplechase was held at Aintree Racecourse near Liverpool, England on 29 February 1836 and attracted a field of ten runners.

The winning horse was The Duke, ridden by Captain Martin Becher in the violet with white sleeves and cap colours of Mr Sirdefield, the landlord of the George Inn in Great Crosby and was trained privately.^[1] The race was won in a time of 20 minutes 10 seconds, over twice the present course record.

The race was a selling race and its status as an official Grand National was revoked some time between 1862 and 1873.

Finishing order

Position	Horse	Jockey	Age	Weight	SP	Distance
1st	The Duke	Captain Martin Becher		12-00	3/1	1 length
2nd	Polyanthus	Dick Christian		12-00	5/1
3rd	Cockahoop	Bartholomew Bretherton		12-00	9/1
4th	Percy	Mr Tempest		12-00	6/1

Non-finishers

Horse	Jockey	Age	Weight	SP	Fate
Laurie Todd	Horatio Powell		12-00	2/1 F	Fell at a gate that had been nailed shut
The Baronet	Mr Kershaw		12-00	6/1	Tailed off by the time the leaders reached the First Brook second time
Derry	John Devine		12-00	8/1	Tailed off by the time the leaders reached the First Brook second time
Gulliver	Mr Denton		12-00	8/1	Pulled up after one circuit
The Sweep	Giles Patrick		12-00	10/1	Tailed off by the time the leaders reached the First Brook second time
Cowslip	S Martin		12-00	12/1	Pulled up after one circuit

The race

The race was started at 2pm over a course almost identical to the modern Grand National course, although the fences were all no more than 2-foot (0.61 m) high earth banks with the exceptions of two brooks and a water jump in front of the stands.

Despite this at least three of the runners had to be put at the first fence for a second time after refusing. None of the ten riders are known to have been thrown from their mounts during the first circuit but 'Gulliver and Cowslip came back onto the racecourse some distance behind the other eight runners and in such a distressed state that their riders did not continue onto the second circuit.

The favourite, Laurie Todd was knocked out of the race in unsportsmanlike circumstances when his rider took the horse down a lane alongside the course towards the first brook. This was within the rules of the race and a gate at the end of the lane had in fact been nailed open to facilitate the use of the lane. A spectator took exception to the use of the lane on the first circuit and freed the gate, nailing it shut before the rider returned. The gate proved too high for Laurie Todd to jump and the horse became the first to fall in the race. As Horatio Powell attempted to remount his horse it was alleged that another rider, Bartholomew Bretherton, deliberately steered his horse towards Powell in order to prevent him remounting. The rider of the favourite was knocked back to the ground and forced to retire from the race through injury. He did not however lodge any protest on his return to the weighing room, suggesting that the act was considered part of the game.

Baronet, The Sweep and Derry were all tailed off or out of the race entirely by the time the leaders reached the first brook for the second time and did not complete the race.

Cockahoop and Percy remained in contention until reaching the Canal Turn for the second time after which they were left behind to finish the race in third and fourth place respectively.

The Duke and Polyanthus were the two horses who disputed the finish of the race and came back onto the racecourse together. Both horses made jumping errors at the final hurdle before The Duke prevailed by one length with Polyanthus finishing second.

Aftermath

The race largely failed to capture the public imagination and came in for scathing comments from some of the local press. By the time the first Grand National historians began emerging in the early 1860s this race, and the two which would follow in 1837 and 1838, had largely been forgotten by the passing of time and fading memories. As a result, when the first honours board was erected at Aintree in the early 1890s this race was totally omitted and remained forgotten for over a century before being rediscovered early in the 21st Century. It is still regarded officially by Aintree as not being worthy of Grand National status and is instead regarded as the first of three unofficial precursors over the same course.

References

↑ Vamplew, Wray & Kay, Joyce. (2004). Encyclopedia of British Horseracing. Routledge. p. 211. ISBN 978-0-7146-5356-3

Grand National

Races by year	1836 1837 1838 1839 1840 1841 1842 1843 1844 1845 1846 1847 1848 1849 1850 1851 1852 1853 1854 1855 1856 1857 1858 1859 1860 1861 1862 1863 1864 1865 1866 1867 1868 1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 ~~1941~~ ~~1942~~ ~~1943~~ ~~1944~~ ~~1945~~ 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Course	Aintree Racecourse Becher's Brook Canal Turn The Chair

Famous horses	Aldaniti Battleship Corbiere Crisp Devon Loch The Duke E.S.B. Foinavon Golden Miller L'Escargot Lord Gyllene Lottery Peter Simple Red Rum West Tip

Famous jockeys	Jack Anthony Martin Becher Tommy Carberry Bob Champion Richard Dunwoody Brian Fletcher Dick Francis Josh Gifford Bruce Hobbs Count Karl Kinsky Jem Mason Tony McCoy Tom Olliver Ernest Piggott Richard Pitman Ruby Walsh Fred Winter

Other people	Peter Bromley Ginger McCain Vincent O'Brien Michael O'Hehir Peter O'Sullevan Jenny Pitman Fred Rimell Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Lord Oaksey Lord Sefton

Lists	List of Grand National winners List of Grand National first four placings List of equine fatalities in the Grand National

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