The most famous horse in Grand National history, Red Rum probably needs little or no introduction. However, ‘Rummie’, as he was affectionately known, was retired the day before the 1978 Grand National so, for the uninitiated, he won the Grand National an unprecedented three times, in 1973, 1974 and 1977, and finished second in the intervening years, behind L’Escargot in 1975 and Rag Trade in 1976.
Trained by the late Donald ‘Ginger’ McCain, on the sands of Southport, Red Rum was acquired, as a seven-year-old, by McCain, acting on behalf of the late Noel Le Mare, for 6,000 guineas at Doncaster Sales in August 1972. Earlier that year, McCain had entered another horse owned by Le Mare, Glenkiln, in the Grand National, but mistakenly withdrew him. Interestingly, Glenkiln ran alongside Red Rum in the 1973 Grand National, for which he was sent off at 33/1, but fell at The Chair.
Born in Barton upon Irwell, Lancashire, on December 18, 1887, Noel Le Mare founded what became Norwest Construction, one of the largest companies of its kind in the country, as a result of which he became a self-made millionaire. In the early seventies, McCain was a small-time trainer, who also ran a car dealership and drove a taxi. Apparently, he used to drive Le Mare to and from the Prince of Wales Hotel on Lord Street, in the centre of Southport, every Saturday night, which is how the two became acquainted.
Noel Le Mare harboured a lifelong ambition to own a Grand National winner and was, in fact, already 85 years old when Red Rum snatched victory from the front-running Crisp in an epic finish to the 1973 Grand National on March 31, 1973. He died peacefully, of old age, on October 7, 1980, aged of 92.