Grand National Horse Books
Want to know all about the Grand National? These publications will get your mind racing before the big day, when you join 700 million people around the world to watch the world's greatest horse race.
Find out how Red Rum got his name and which horse walked to Aintree all the way from his stables in Grimsby, won the Grand National, and walked all the way home again.
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Rock of Gibraltar: Ultimate Racehorse and Fabulous Prize in a Battle of Giants
From the beginning of history, the human species has revered the horse. Kings and commoners alike have fought to possess the best and the ownership of champion racehorses in particular has often caused bitter duels, both for honour and riches. Yet surely no horse has caused more of a sensation on and off the racetrack than Rock of Gibraltar. He was owned by two friends, who just happened to be two of the most famous men in world sport ? Sir Alex Ferguson, the toolmaker?s apprentice from the tough streets of Glasgow who became Britain?s greatest-ever football manager, and John Magnier, the publicity-shy former senator of Ireland and patrician owner of the world?s most successful breeding operation, Coolmore Stud. Even his own trainer, the Master of Ballydoyle, Aidan O?Brien, did not rate him as the stable?s best hope for glory, but Rock of Gibraltar proved to be that ?one in a million? racehorse who went on to beat Mill Reef?s record of winning six consecutive Group One races, following wins at the Gimcrack Stakes at York, the Dewhurst Stakes and 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket, the Railway Stakes and Irish 2,000 Guineas at the Curragh, the Prix Gram Criterium and Prix Moulin at Longchamp, the St James?s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot and the Sussex Stakes at Goodwood. In addition, the Rock was second in the Breeder?s Cup Mile, which is widely recognised as the world championship race. The Rock?s jockey, Michael Kinane, christened him the ?ultimate racehorse?, while Kinane?s French rivals gave the horse another nickname ? ?the Monster?. Yet after all his extraordinary feats on the racecourse, Rock of Gibraltar gained even greater fame after his retirement to stud, as Ferguson and Magnier fought over the horse?s most valuable asset ? his very genes. In this definitive account of Rock of Gibraltar?s life, we learn how the ultimate racehorse became the #100 million prize in a supposedly private but very public contest over stud fees which engulfed the world?s most famous football club, Manchester United. Replete with new information, Rock of Gibraltar charts the tale of two men and their obsession, explains how Manchester United became embroiled in the saga and, above all, tells the story of a magnificent racehorse.
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The Julian Wilson's Great Racehorses
For hundreds of years men have attempted to breed the perfect racehorse, the one that will be outstandingly greater than all the others of its generation. This book, with Julian Wilson's personal selection of the greatest racehorses ever, is a chronicle of a number of those men's successful achievements; of the one horse in 10,000 that stands head and shoulders above the field. With profiles of Desert Orchid, Cigar, Shergar and Lammtarra amongst many others, every entry also includes the blood-lines of the horse.
THE GREAT RACEHORSES is a tribute to the truly great racehorses of the past 200 years, from Eclipse to Dancing Brave on the flat, from Manifesto to Dawn Run under National Hunt rules. Some were bred by a genius who devoted a lifetime to the pursuit whilst others were bred completely by chance. Julian Wilson has not attempted an 'order of merit'; such a task would be impossible, as each horse has its own special story of triumph, tragedy and pathos. The true hero - or heroine - of each story is not the owner, the breeder, the trainer; it is that glorious sporting creature, the racehorse.
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The Grey Horse: The True Story of Desert Orchid
Grey horses have a special charisma - indeed, there are now even whole races dedicated to them. But Desert Orchid was also an astounding record breaker - winner of the Cheltenham Gold Cup, the Whitbread Gold Cup, the Irish Grand National, and an extraordinary four-times victor in the prestigious Queen Mother Chase at Kempton Park on Boxing Day. His triumphs, and his rare failures, became front-page news: he is unquestionably the only horse in Britain to have attained a kind of rock-star celebrity. Though he ran his last race in 1990, his fame is such that at the age of 24 he still puts in regular personal appearances at Cheltenham on Gold Cup Day and Kempton on Boxing Day, unquestionably as one of the biggest stars of the show. Richard Burridge has been Desert Orchid's owner from the beginning; this is his inside story of one of the bravest horses British racing has ever seen.
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Persian Punch: The Authorised Tribute
To hail Persian Punch as the most popular Flat racehorse on Britain is not sufficient. He has gone beyond the levels of popularity we normally associate with the money-dominated sport of Flat racing. He is a horse who has grabbed the affections of race-goers to a far greater extent than any other in the sport's recent history. Persian Punch's public standing has been built on performance of the utmost bravery, performances which have seen him snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, performances which have left normally hardened observers unable to resist anthropomorphic tributes. The Authorised Story is the ultimate tribute to this wonderful athlete. Flat racing has seen nothing like Persian Punch in years. He is a gentle giant with a positively ruthless will to win, his continued presence enriching the sport. He embodies everything that is great about the racehorse. There can be no greater compliment.
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