1958 Grand National

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1958 Grand National
Grand National
Location Aintree Racecourse
Date29 March 1958
Winning horse Flag of Ireland.svg Mr. What
Starting price 18/1
Jockey Flag of England.svg Arthur Freeman
Trainer Flag of Ireland.svg Tom Taaffe Sr.
OwnerDavid J. Coughlan
Conditions Soft
  1957
1959  
External videos
Nuvola apps kaboodle.svg Highlights of the 1958 Grand National (British Pathé)
Nuvola apps kaboodle.svg British Movietone

The 1958 Grand National was the 112th renewal of the Grand National horse race that took place at Aintree near Liverpool, England, on 29 March 1958.

Contents

From an initial entry of 56 [1] The field of 31 runners competed for record prize money of nearly £14,000. The race was won by 18/1 shot Mr. What, by a distance of 30 lengths. The eight-year-old was ridden by jockey Arthur Freeman and trained by Tom Taaffe Sr., and became the fifth Irish winner of the Grand National since the Second World War.

Race Card

Thirty two runners were declared to run with Top Twenty, to be ridden by Shortt being withdrawn on the day of the race after bursting a blood vessel when finishing fifth in the Topham Chase two days before the National. [2] There were no late jockey changes from those declared on the race card.

Mr What's trainer Tom Taffe left it until five days before the race to engage Arthur Freeman, as he had wanted his son Tosse to partner his entry. However Tosse was expected to ride the highly fancied Sam Brownthorn and with options for a replacement running out, Taffe booked Freeman, who himself had been left without a mount after losing the ride on Athenian to Derrick Ancil, having two other engagements withdrawn, and losing his standby slot on Never Say When as the injured Stan Mellor was passed fit a week before the race. Although Tosse Taffe did become available to ride forty-eight hours before the race when Sam Brownthorn was withdrawn, Taffe senior stuck to his booking, leaving Taffe junior to partner Brookling instead. [3]

Finishing order

PositioncoloursName Jockey AgeHandicap (st-lb) SP Distance
01Maroon, Maroon and Yellow hooped sleeves, Yellow cap with maroon hoop Mr. What Arthur Freeman 810-618/130 Lengths
02Maroon and Yellow halved, sleeves reversed, yellow capTiberettaGeorge Slack1010-628/115 Lengths
03Eton blueGreen DrillGeorge Milburn810-1028/1
04CeriseWyndburghMichael Batchelor811-36/1
05White, Hay tartan cross beltsGoosanderTim Molony1011-7100/7
06Green, white hoop and armlets ESB David Dick 1211-1228/1
07Yellow, Green striped sleeves, quartered capHolly BankPeter Brookshaw1110-1350/1Last to Complete

Broadcasting and Media

With Mrs Topham continuing to refuse to allow the BBC to broadcast the race on Television, coverage of the race remained restricted to a thirty-minute radio broadcast at 3pm on the BBC Light Programme. This was the twenty-seventh consecutive renewal, dating back to 1927 to be covered by BBC radio. [4]

Filming the race remained the preserve of the two major newsreel services, Pathe and Movietone with both rapidly releasing their newsreels of the race as early as that evening in some local cinemas as a special in its own right, rather than as part of their normal newsreel service.

The Daily Mirror, Daily Herald, Daily Express and Daily Mail all carried extensive previews of the race

Non-finishers

FenceColoursName Jockey AgeHandicap (st-lb) SP Fate
02Cream, Purple striped sleeves & capLongmead Willie Robinson 811-128/1Fell
05Crimson, Old gold sleeves & capRendezvous IIIJohnny Bullock1010-345-1Fell
05Yellow, Black capPrincess GarterWilliam Roberts1110-366/1Fell
05Chocolate with Yellow cross beltsValiant Spark Michael Scudamore 910-720/1Fell
06Dark blue with light blue hoop and sleeves, white capMustBert Morrow1010-150/1Fell
06Yellow with black belt & capSentina Pat Taaffe 810-1118/1Brought Down
06Dark blue with pale blues sleeves & collarFrozen CreditPeter Ransom1210-1266/1Refused
07Orange with black & white quartered capComedian's FollyDerrick Scott1010-066/1Refused
11Black with scarlet capGlorious TwelfthJumbo Wilkinson911-328/1Refused
13Grey with black & white quartered capBrooklingTosse Taaffe910-328/1Fell
15Grey with scarlet sleeves, collar, braid & capAce Of TrumpsPaddy Farrell1010-1240/1Pulled Up
16Straw with pink sleeves & capRichardstownJames Morrissey1010-040/1Fell
17Grey with white sleeves & gold capMoston LaneTaffy Jenkins910-066/1Refused
18Yellow with white hoop & red capColledge MasterBill Rees811-225/1Pulled-Up
19Chocolate with yellow collar, cuffs & capAthenianDerek Ancil910-1122/1Fell
19Turquoise blue with pink hooped sleeves and capNever Say When Stan Mellor 910-250/1Fell
19Pink with black hooped sleeves & quartered capSoutherntownPatrick Cowley1210-166/1Unseated Rider
19Madonna blue & brown quarteredSpringsilver Fred Winter 810-418/1Refused
19Blue & silver hoops with quartered capWise ChildStan Hayhurst1011-645-1Pulled-Up
20Purple with pink sleeves & cap with purple spotsThe CrofterJimmy Power1010-040-1Fell
22Pale blue with tan sleeves & capPippykin Tim Brookshaw 1010-522/1Fell
22Mauve with yellow sleeves, mauve armlets & yellow capSydney JonesMichael Tory1110-1228/1Brought Down
22White with black hoop, armlet, collar and cuffs with quartered capHart RoyalPeter Pickford1010-1118/1Refused
28Dark blue with two pale green diagonal stripes and hoop on cap [5] Eagle LodgeAlan Oughton910-018/1Pulled Up

[6] [7] [8]

Pathe's footage of the race shows that Comedian's Folly refused twice at the sixth fence {Becher's Brook} clearing it only at the third attempt, while Sentina also appears to fall rather than being brought down.

Post Race

Trainer Neville Crump told the press after the race that his Goosander would not be entered again for the National. "I don't say that he will never run at Aintree again, but he obviously doesn't stay the full National distance." he stated after the horse finished a tired fifth.

Jockey Peter Pickford advised the same of Hart Royal, stating "He just hated the big fences all the way and I could never get anywhere near the leaders."

Bill Rees expressed similar sentiments of Colledge Master who he said "made a hole big enough in the seventeenth fence to walk through."

Derrick Ancil reported that his mount, Athenian's race ended at the nineteenth fence, stuck with "Forelegs on one side and hind legs on the other."

Mrs Topham was forced to defend the race after a combination of poor weather and moving from a Friday to a Saturday led to a notciably reduced attendance in the enclosures and out in the extremes of the course. However, she blamed the Tote, claiming that their "4s minimum stake to get into the enclosures puts people off. If the Tote would reduce this to 2s then people would come flocking back, not just to the Grand National but to all race courses."

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References

  1. Daily Mirror, Friday 10th January 1958, page 14, column 1, Headline: Ireland enter 11
  2. Daily Mirror, Friday 28th March 1958, Top Twenty breaks blood vessel
  3. Daily Mirror, Monday March 3st 1958: Article, luck always has the last word.
  4. Daily Mirror, Saturday 29th March 1958, TV & Radio Schedule
  5. Colours as described in the Daily Mirror race card, Saturday 29th March 1958
  6. The Grand National : the history of the Aintree spectacular, by Stewart Peters & Bernard Parkin, ISBN   0-7524-3547-7
  7. "1958 - The Grand National & Aintree 1946-1959". Fiftiesnationals.webs.com. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
  8. "Past Winners of The Grand National". Grand-national.net. Archived from the original on 4 November 2011. Retrieved 18 August 2014.