Three time Grand National winner Red Rum is one of five horses still in contention to be crowned the People’s Champion in a poll run by horse racing newspaper the Racing Post.
The competition was launched back in July with an aim of crowning their readers’ “favourite racehorse of all time”. A number of Grand National winners unsurprisingly made the 80-strong shortlist that went forward to a series of public votes on X, formerly Twitter.
Among those voted on were:
- 1981’s National victor, Aldaniti;
- Crisp, who Red Rum famously beat in the 1973 National;
- L’Escargot, the last horse to win both the Cheltenham Gold Cup and the National;
- 2015 Grand National winner, Many Clouds;
- Grand National legend, Red Rum; and
- Two-time National hero, Tiger Roll.
Red Rum comfortably saw off Frodon, Mtoto and The Minstrel to reach the semi-finals with 65% of the vote, while Tiger Roll also showed his popularity by coasting into the semis ahead of Moscow Flyer, Inglis Drever and Troy.
The two Grand National favourites were then placed in the same semi-final, alongside three-time Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Arkle, and Enable who twice won the l’Arc de Triomphe. Despite facing up to such strong rivals, Red Rum took 44% of all votes cast, coming out on top comfortably and progressing to a five-strong final which has seen over 6,000 votes cast.
Also in the final five are Cheltenham Gold Cup rivals Denman and Kauto Star, in addition to Desert Orchid – surely the most famous grey horse in British racing history – and Frankel.
The final outcome is sure to spark debate, whichever horse comes out on top, and it’s clear the public are divided, as the Racing Post continued to build anticipation by saying the top three were separated by just six percent of the vote.
Some betting sites showed their hand, pricing up the vote and having Desert Orchid and Kauto Star vying for favouritism, ahead of Frankel. Red Rum was a somewhat surprisingly distant fourth favourite, available to be backed at 7/1, with Denman the rank outsider.
A spokesman for grandnational.org.uk said, “While we may be somewhat biased, Red Rum would undoubtedly make a deserving People’s Champion. While not necessarily the most talented horse in contention, his enduring legacy and unwavering popularity transcend the sport we all love.”
The eventual People’s Champion winner will be announced online on Saturday 14th October.
