The 1951 Grand National was the 105th renewal of the Grand National horse race that took place at Aintree Racecourse near Liverpool, England, on 7 April 1951.
A crowd of 250,000 people saw the race won by Nickel Coin at odds of 40/1. The nine-year-old mare was ridden by jockey John Bullock and trained by Jack O'Donoghue. Royal Tan, who won in 1954, finished second, and Derrinstown was third. An unprecedented twelve horses (a third of the field) went at the first fence- either falling or being brought down. Of the 36 runners, only three completed the course. All of the horses returned safely to the stables.
In the long history of the Grand National only 13 mares have won the race, Nickel Coin being the most recent.
Finishing order PositionNameJockeyAgeHandicap (st-lb)SPDistance01Nickel CoinJohnny Bullock910–140/16 Lengths02Royal TanPhonsie O'Brien710–1340/103DerrinstownAlbert Power1110–066/1Last to complete
Non-finishers FenceNameJockeyAgeHandicap (st-lb)SPFate01CadamstownJack Dowdeswell1110–450-1Fell01ColumnAtty Corbett1110–1100/1Fell01ConfuciusMick O'Dwyer1010–0100/1Fell01East A'CallingMichael Scudamore1010–250/1Brought Down01FinnureDick Francis1012–022/1Fell01Irish LizardPat Taaffe810–150/1Brought Down01Land FortBryan Marshall711–320/1Fell01ParsonhillJim Seely1210–2100/1Fell01RevealedMr W Beynon-Brown1110–0100/1Fell01Stalbridge RockDick McCreery810–566/1Fell01StockmanGeorge Vergette910–2100/1Brought Down01Texas DanPaddy Fitzgerald910–166/1Brought Down02GalleryAlf Mullins1310–450/1Fell02FreebooterJimmy Power1012–710/1Brought Down05ShagreenGlen Kelly1012–210/1Fell06Morning CoverGeorge Slack1010–040/1Fell07BinghamstownLouis Furman1210–0100/1Fell07Rowland RoyDavid Dick1210–1250/1Fell07Sergeant KellyReg De'Ath1010–1240/1Brought Down08Arctic GoldTim Molony610–138/1Fell08Armoured KnightTommy Cusack710–866/1Brought Down08CloncarrigBob Turnell1112–010/1Fell08Glen FireFred Winter810–133/1Fell08Prince BrownieTony Grantham910–933/1Fell08TasmanCharles Hook1110–0100/1Refused09RoimondAndrew Jarvis1012–0100/7Fell09PartpointArthur Thompson910–533/1Fell09Queen of the DandiesRoy Carter1010–0100/1Fell10Caesar's WifeGordon Rogers910–8100/1Fell15Russian HeroLeo McMorrow1111–140/1Fell15Dog WatchTim Brookshaw1010–233/1Fell23BroomfieldRene Emery1010–433/1Fell23Gay HeatherDick Curran1010–066/1Fell The Grand National : the history of the Aintree spectacular, by Stewart Peters & Bernard Parkin,
Media Coverage With rationing still in place across the UK, newspapers had limited space for coverage of the race, most only running a brief preview with the race card. The Radio Times carried a picture of 1950 winner, Freebooter jumping the final flight on the way to victory with a map of the course on its cover.
The BBC had requested to screen the race live on Television but Aintree refused, leaving the BBC light radio programme to issue a thirty-minute broadcast at 3pm. David Black called the runners over the early fences, Michael O'Hehir took over at Becher's and Canal turn with Richard North calling them up the Canal Side before handing over to lead commentator, Raymond Glendenning to call the runners home. Each commentator was assisted by a race caller who would spot and identify horses departing the contest. Peter O'Sullevan, who would eventually be known as the voice of Racing, this year acted as O'Hehir's caller.
The major newsreel companies regarded the National as one of the major highlights of their year. Movietone, presented by Lionel Gamlin, Pathe and Gaumont, all had cameras on the course and had their coverage ready to be screened in cinemas within hours.Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine:
References