100/1 Grand National Winners – Tipperary Tim, Gregalach, Caughoo, Foinavon, Mon Mome

The Grand National is the biggest horse race in the world, watched by an estimated 600 million people world wide. Plenty of them bet on it too, so when a horse wins at long odds, it makes headlines.

It’s a notoriously difficult race to predict, because there are so many runners and because the course is so difficult. This leaves the race open for upsets. In fact, since the turn of the 20th century just 16 favourites have won the race, although 6 of them occurred since 2005, so perhaps the Grand National is getting easier.

Regardless, there have been a grand total of 5 horses who have won the greatest race of them all at the combined longest odds of 100/1.

They are:

• Tipperary Tim (1928)
• Gregalach (1929)
• Caughoo (1947)
• Foinavon (1967)
• Mon Mome (2009)

I will tell you a little more about each horse and their race below.

Tipperary Tim – 1928

“Billy boy, you’ll only win if all the others fall!”

This is what a friend of William Dutton, Tipperary Tim’s jockey, shouted to him just before the off. Can you guess what happened next?

42 horses started the race, but very heavy going and misty conditions coupled with the difficulty of the Grand National meant that only two of them finished. Billy Boy did indeed win the race because every other horse fell.

Well, that’s not strictly true. Some refused, some were pulled up, but most fell. There was a particularly nasty pile up at the Canal Turn. Just two horses completed the race, Tipperary Tim in first place, and Billy Barton, who fell at the 30th but was remounted to claim second place. This is still a record for the lowest number of finishers and is unlikely to ever be broken.

The 1928 running of the race was, without a doubt, one of the most chaotic Grand Nationals in history. It launched the career of William Dutton though. The amateur jockey went on to become one of the most successful trainers in England, with a reputation for buying cheap horses and turning them into stars.

Greglach – 1929

Just a year after Tipperary Tim came in at 100/1, Greglach achieved the same feat.

Another record was set this year too, with 66 horses starting the race, the largest field in the history of the Grand National. In total, 34 of them were priced at 100/1 or longer, so the chances of an outsider winning were higher in the first place.

There were still a relatively small number of finishers, just 9 of the 66 who started, with Greglach beating the favourite by a solid six lengths.

However, they left a trail of destruction behind them as falling horses caused others to fall on top of them, leading to race organisers making modifications.

Two years in a row there had been chaos on the track, and this was despite filling the ditch at Canal Turn before the 1929 running. So the minimum age was raised from 5 to 6 in an effort to limit the number of entries, among other things.

Greglach was ridden by Bob Everett, and trained by Tom Leader Jnr.

Caughoo – 1947

This was one of the most controversial Grand Nationals in history.

Unlike the first two 100/1 winners, Caughoo won the Grand National with 18 other finishers behind him, and he did so comfortably too, winning by 20 lengths.

Racing conditions were not great, with thick fog descending on the course making visibility difficult, and heavy rain the day before creating heavy ground. Despite this, 19 of the 57 runners finished and all horses returned safely to the stables.

However, it was these foggy conditions which created the controversy.

Since Caughoo was priced so long, some people thought it was unbelievable he could have won the race by such a distance. Claims of cheating were made.

One jockey in particular, Daniel McCann, who had come second, said that Caughoo’s jockey, Eddie Dempsey, had hidden the horse in the fog and only re-joined at the end. In other words, he accused Dempsey of not completing the course at all.

The pair came to blows over the accusation, but Caughoo’s victory stood. It would be 52 years before photographic evidence surfaced to conclusively prove his innocence though.

Foinavon – 1967

Foinavon might have won the Grand National all the way back in 1967, but even younger racing fans will recognise the name. This is because ‘Foinavon’ is now one of the most well known fences at Aintree.

It was named after the 1967 Grand National winner in 1984, although it had been suggested long before then.

During the 1967 Grand National, one of the biggest pile ups the race has ever seen occurred at Foinavon, which was then simply the 7th/23rd fence.

It happened at the 23rd when a loose horse, Popham Down, who had unseated his rider at the first, veered across the track and crashed into Rutherfords, unseating the jockey. A pile-up with Rondetto, Norther, Princeful, Leedsy and other horses followed, before they got up and prevented other horses from jumping.

All but two of the twenty-something remaining horses were brought down.

Foinavon had been in 22nd place when this all started, so far behind that he had time to navigate the mayhem and clear the fence. He gained an insurmountable lead as other jockeys remounted and attempted to gain ground. The favourite, Honey End came second, but Foinavon won by 15 lengths.

Mon Mome – 2009

A full 42 years after Foinavon, the latest 100/1 Grand National winner was crowned.

Mon Mome is the only horse on this list to have won without the help of exceptional circumstances. He ran a clean and impressive race, which saw 17 of 40 runners finish the course. No one could call this a fluke.

It was one of the closest races seen for many years, with as many as 15 horses still in contention as they crossed the Melling Road and turned for home.

Mon Mome pushed ahead of the pack and jumped neck and neck with reigning champion, Comply or Die at the last, but outran him on the run-in, winning by 12 lengths in the end. This denied Comply or Die the chance to be the first horse in 30 years to win back to back Grand Nationals.

Trained by Venetia Williams and ridden by Liam Treadwell, Mon Mome was the first French bred winner of the National for 100 years.