GRAND NATIONAL

Hokitika Guardian, 18 May 1929, Page 2

GRAND NATIONAL

A lv iv'' 01! i ) FIELD OIITKI I>KII\S VKTOIiV. WOMAN OWNEM’S si'cck: s. I.ONEON, April A. Thom were sixty-.six riiuiH't tin greatest number in history—ft;./ tin(i in nil National, at Ain tree. 'I la horses were started all in one line, and a temporary number board hat to bo erected alongside the i. »nna structure, in order it) aecomi. odat« the record number of runners, i h*‘.\ all cleared tlie lirst fence, but : t tin end of the hast time round only ..wen ty-two were upstanding. At ti: 1 em of the race on.y eight horses we e u. and an almost tin onsidesed oil. side,. Gregalach. was the winner, inkin' the lead two fences from home. an getting in six lengths ahead ii th> favourite, hiss ter Hero i.A’r .). ii Whitney), with Mr AlcAlpino's Rich mond 'IT, tliird. Largo parties travelled to tli ■ Lh erpool coarse by air. Many i.'ome:: used the air liners that left Orydoi.. In! one machine mole than in f th twenty passengeis were v outer. . Th Duke of Westminster had provided : wonderful marquee cmtaining an ol fashioned drawing room with r ren old-fashioned fin n ace. Prince Gpovp Was among the record crowd—rest: mated to be "-early 301,0'JO —t > see tiie ilirills of.the race. . , Mrs Gemmoll’s Gregalach had little

support, and its chances in such an unwieldly field were generally considered ’ negligible. In many lists cif odds the horse was not even mentioned except in the “100 to 1 the held” quotation. . Mrs Gcmmell is tlie wife of a North, of England sportsman who is interested in the Donahlson shipping line and other steamship companies. ft was not until a few years ago that Air and Airs Gemmell became keenly interested in racing, and one of tlie first ,steeplechasers purchased was Gregahu-h. w|io cainc up .at the Non-

market December,-Sales, in cnnpanv Wit Ii G rakie. Both belonged to Ah; T‘. Tv. La id law at that, time and were, trained by Tom Coullhwaite. Greg"lacli made pOilO'guineas, and the *>t? dr 4030 guineas, and .it is a cqiip. - ‘deuce that both completed the course. A;s a. five-year-old Gregalach brdlian 1y won tlie Stanley Steeplechase Liverpool. : ' •, A Cf l ANCE if I DE. ‘‘By ,-fiu; jjJio .best,.story of the fm*' and the incidents leading up to. i was that told b.v the young man win" lias suddenly found himself foinous, Hubert Everett, the rider of the winner. Here is what he told “Ajax” (“Evening -Standard”) about himself, and how he came to ride Gregalach.

• “J was .born in Australia and came to -tliis country,,,with iny people. :. f fancied the Navy; .so 1 joined up., hut after a. spoil .found 1. did not care; 'much for thq life, so T left the. . sea 'and journeyed to South Africa. ,'1 co’ujd rid.e a hit when I was a youngster ill Australia, and I fancied being something- of a- jockey. I «vas«- in South Africa for over three years, and got a hit of riding as an amateur out tiieije. It was in 1920 that T retmmed to this country, and started to ride over 1 hurdles as an amateur, rl rodea fair number of winners, hut it was only about two years ago that T got a chance to rido over fences. “The mount on Gregalach was really a chance ride. I was engaged for Golden Rebel, and when he broke down it wms a fortunate circumstance for mo. I said, more in a joke than anything else, to Ted Leader, haven’t got a ride in the National, so you might find me one, Ted.’ f never'’expected to ■ hear anything more, but on Sunday they rang mo ujp and asked if T would ride G-rega-laclij I said I would, and went to Newmarket to ride the horse in a gallop last Wednesday. That was the first time I bad been on him, but I never jumped a. fence on him until today. It was only yesterday that it was definitely settled that I should have the ride.

“I had ridden only twice over the course. I had the mount on Rossiem in the National last, year, but did not get very far. Rut I finished fourth on Rallyhanwood in the Grand Sefton last November. “I never had any anxious moments in the race. He nearly jumped me off at the first fence, lie jumped so big; and I. have never been so high in my life. T let him settle down in his own time, and as we went on lie took every fence in the approved style without making any serious mistake. “It was in the second circuit that T began to got among them in earnest, and when we got to the Canal Turn I took him across to the left and jumped close to the wing, so that from being fifth J jumped into third place. I was then in close company with Raster Hero, Richmond IT., and Sandy Hook. I lost Sandy Hook a hit further on, and as we came on to the racecourse T thought it was time to see what I could do. The hors n answered well, and T went pest the tired Raster Hero just before petti n" to the last fence, hut one. I knew T had won then, and though my hor«e was very tired the topweight was in even worse plight.” And that is how Greglaeh made history for himself and a comparatively young and unknown rider.