The Grand National is one of the year’s biggest sporting events, and nothing provides excitement like a 100/1 winner!
The Aintree Grand National is often billed as ‘The Greatest Steeplechase in the World’, and a contributing factor to this accolade is its unpredictability. There are a total of 30 fences to be jumped over four miles, which is a tough challenge for any horse. This can allow outsiders to sneak in for a famous win.
In fact, throughout its history, the race has had a significant number of winners on which the bookmakers gave long odds. Amongst the long shots are five horses that have won the race since 1928 after being placed at 100-1. This presents a great opportunity to get lucky and have some fun along the way.
The Grand National was first run back in 1839, with the winner priced at 5/1. For the next 18 years, the highest-priced winner was no more than 25/1. It took 90 years for the first-ever 100/1 winner in 1928.
Tipperary Tim (1928)
Tipperary Tim was the first horse to win the race after being placed at 100-1. His success was largely due to a pile-up caused by Easter Hero, who fell at Canal Turn.
This left just seven horses in the race, which was reduced to two horses by the final fence, Tipperary Tim and Billy Barton.
Billy Barton fell, and his jockey had to remount, but by then, it was too late. Tipperary Tim powered ahead and booked his place in history as the first horse to win at 100-1.
Grelach (1929)
As the saying goes, you wait for ages for one and two come along at once. This is exactly what happened in 1929. This Grand National saw the largest number of runners ever to compete, with sixty-six horses in the lineup.
With such a packed start, it’s no wonder this ultimately led to chaos. Such chaos saw Grelach become the second 100-1 horse ever to win the National, a year after Tippery Tim was the first.
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Caughoo (1947)
After two dramatic years, there was a wait of 18 years for the next big winner. In 1947 a high number of horses in the race led to a congested pack that stifled the strong favourites, such as Prince Regent, who had finished third the previous year.
This allowed the Irish-trained 100-1 outsider Caughoo to win. The win in the Grand National made Caughoo one of the biggest bargains in racing history, as his owners paid just £50 for him.
Foinavon (1967)
Two decades passed before another 100-1 outsider won the National. However, there were some notable long shots in the intervening years, such as Teal in 1952 at 100-7 and Jay Trump in 1965 at 100-6.
However, 1967 was the year that Foinavon won after several horses refused to jump, causing a pile-up.
Foinavon managed to avoid the pile-up and went on to finish a full fifteen lengths ahead of his nearest competitor. The fence that gave Foinavon his unusual victory was later named for him.
Mon Mome (2009)
Last and by no means least, we have Mon Mome, who won in 2009 after a thrilling and highly contested race—trained by Venetia Williams, he hunted around on the inside; he crept steadily into contention on the second circuit and was on the leaders’ heels at the third last.
He jumped the last well when there were still plenty of horses in with a chance. He then found a little more in the tank as Liam Treadwell, having his first ride in the race, asked him for more.
So in a race where anything can happen, do you have the guts to back a rank outsider next year? Maybe Atlanta Ablaze at 80/1 or Ok Corral at 50-1 could be the one for you. With the race still months away, more and more horses will get added to the odds. This means that there will definitely be some interesting 100/1-priced horses next year!
