I agree Specify was going very well when he was brought down. With the weight difference, Specify would have won imo

1978 too

pathe have clearer shots

He won in 1990. Little Polveir won in '89. Don't think his record will be beaten now the distance has been reduced to 4m 2½f

And he always will....the race is shorter now and a shadow of it's former self as a test of horses...due to the safety modifications.

Interesting to hear of this. Makes sense as 77-85 it appears to take out a few. The same accusation was made of the 3rd/19th in 1980. 9 of the 30 runners were taken out from memory that year

...yep......Mercy Rimell...wife of the trainer was not impressed......

Yes youre right, he was such a good jockey, and knew how to keep gay trip at a steady pace ,and challenge at the last two fences, super race 🤗

@@sparkle935 Certainly was Neil, Pat was Momentous and very underrated and modest too. Shame Terry Biddlecombe missed a winning ride through injury n watched the race in hospital. Do you by any chance no why the field was only 28 runners?..Kind regards Glynn n greetings from Stourbridge West Midlands 🤝

Yes quite a few fell at the third but it was a small field in any case. Perhaps 28 at most.

@@julzyboy1973 Quite right sir but still a fab race' can't believe it is 50 Years since Gay Trip won n poor Terry Biddlecombe missed the winning ride watched in hospital..Kind regards Glynn n greetings from Stourbridge West Midlands UK 🤝

@@glynnevans1851 yes and I am gutted because even though the race is nowhere as good as it used to be, I'm still going to miss it big time. Will have to make do with the virtual race instead Glynn

@@julzyboy1973 Hi n Cheers for your reply. May I ask were r u from sir ..Kind regards Glynn

@@glynnevans1851 Hi Glynn I'm from Sutton Coldfield West Mids

I was watching the December 2019 Aintree meeting on tv yesterday, and there were more fallers on the traditional steeplechase course than over the National fences

@@levisjeans1901 Quite right sir. The Grand national course as become a joke n no test of skill.Health and safety and do gooders have ruined the Grand national ' I haven't watched it for about 10 years now,No Spectical any more🤔.This particular year 1970 winning jockey Pat Taffe was very underrated also poor Terry Biddlecombe watched the race in hospital and missed his winning ride as Pat took his place ...Kind regards Glynn n Greetings from Stourbridge West Midlands UK

Glynn Evans, thankyou for your comment. Pity we can't get together as I have a dvd of all the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s Grand Nationals. We could enjoy the thrills and spills without the pc brigade looking in!!

@@levisjeans1901 Hi sir ,Many thanks for your reply. It Makes me Very Sad' how are Grand National as lost its identity and become less exciting than a long distance point to point..Apart from 1973 my other favourite National is 72 when Gay Trip/Terry Biddlecombe RIP 'made a valiant effort to peg back Well To Do but up until 1989 they all had a Special story to tell.For me sir it was after 1989 that the National slowly became pointless with each subsequent year endless modifications. Yes it would be Fab to get together and remember Golden memories. Also we must not for get The Topham Trophy and Liverpool foxhunters chase In 1972 Sunny Lad won a Fab race that day and Credit Call who won the Liverpool foxhunters chase I think 3 times he was so clever and his jockey Chris Collins was a very accomplished rider. May I ask were r U from sir. Kind regards Glynn

Glynn, your knowledge is weighty indeed. I am afraid I purely enjoy the race from a visual spectacle perspective. I am based in Hampshire Sir

@Richard - the Red Rum/Crisp National was also a strange one inasmuch as Crisp really ran the race at a great pace, and I don't know if it still is the fastest time ever posted for the National, but it was 20 seconds faster than any previous National at the time. So Crisp must have run at 2 to 2 and a half mile pace for most of the race, just slowing down at the jumps.

@Richard - Mr Frisk broke Red Rums record in 1990 in 8 mins 47 seconds which was run on bone dry going. Never be beat as they have reduced the distance.

the reason why there were big fields in the 60s was because everyone kept thinking it was gonna be the last national, so owners, trainers wanted a final shot at it, however think people got fed up of every national being the last and in the 70s the fields were mostly smaller

@@davidkent8606 I backed grey sombrero that day...fell at the chair but as they passed on the run in you can see the horse was on its feet...yet they put it down

@@shaunspadah5790 Also the qualification rules were jigged round most years leading to a range of entries numbers.

There was a complaint form the Jockeys that they thought that the 3rd fence had been built to the wrong height.

@@ssuganda There was the same complaints in 1980. I recall Francome, Hembrow and Fenwick standing in the ditch being interviewed on Grandstand. Its supposed to be 4'10, but was more like 5ft

Manifesto ran in 8 consecutive races

Incredible!

@patrick If you couldn't jump you wouldn't get round. Now a half decent hurdler could get round.

Commercial reasons. The nursery fences were seldom used and when they were the fields were small and gave no pointers to the National. Arguably the best thing on Bill Davies' watch

noel gaynor Can you remember what you won?

@Richard - Quite right sir. That was Pat Taffes style and what a legendary horse man he was n at the finish he was Mustard at getting any horse over the line .Wish he had ridden Gay Trip in 71 n72, Fabulous N.H racing late 60s n 70s ..in 73 did Richard Pitman cost Crisp the race .?...Kind regards Glynn n Greetings from Stourbridge West Midlands

@@glynnevans1851 I think Pitman did cost Crisp the race. Not only was the horse knackered but so was he. Crisp was a 2 miler and if he'd given the horse a breather, he may have gotten home but credit to Fletcher on Rummy who realised he had to get after Crisp sooner rather than later.

@@julzyboy1973 Hello sir, Many thanks for your reply 'The memory of that race never leaves me as I was a big N.H racing fan then especially Fred Winter n Fred Rimell. Can't help thinking if John Francome had ridden Crisp he may of won but Brian Fletcher stated he was always going to catch Crisp. My late dad always said if' s buts n wondering May be 's Don't win Nationals .Sadly today s race is a shadow of its former glory Ruined by Do Gooders and Health n Safety .N.H racing is a dangerous sport full stop..I was born 1960 and my first T.V national was 1967 say no more!!..I have been to Aintree in 1981,84,85,89,90 but since 1990 the race as become watered down to Nothing now..Do you go back to the wonderful duels Lanzarote and Comedy of errors had also then Fab racing commentors on both channels. Peter O'Sullivan and Julian Wilson second to none and John Rickman who ust to drop his Trilby hat n welcome every body and John Lawrence too plus brought Scott on ITV or Channel 4 ' only Scottie left now the others all RIP Bless them All sir..My kind regards Glynn n Greetings from Stourbridge West Midlands UK 🤝

@@julzyboy1973 Pitman's '73 ride on Crisp was ridiculous. Taafe showed how to get a two miler around.

....it was French Excuse but I think the horse was just winded......however Raccoon was a fatality at fence three....this is wiki-referenced....

chatham43 cheers mate

I worked for Fred Rimmel at the time and it was French Excuse but the horse was all ok and ran after the national at Ayr later the same year

@@grahamvaughan8764 High Graham interesting info ,also were you with Fred when he had a nice grey horse called Iceman ' I remember him running in the 73 Topham Trophy won by another nice grey called Inch Arran .The fences then a Fabulous sight to see sir ..Kind regards Glynn n Greetings from Stourbridge West Midlands UK 🤝

@@grahamvaughan8764 Thanks for the info Graham

Bear in mind he was covering from the 1st to the 12th, he didn't do a bad job. Could you do better?

his commentary was stilted, sounded nervous, where was the 3rd commentator, actually wilsons commentaries in some nationals were legendary especially 73 and 77

shaun spadah I think I'd be nervous having to cover such a large part of the course! Michael o Hehir had been dropped after the 69 race so there was no third caller.

is it actually true that o hehir got dropped after the 69 race quite a few commentaters did a handful of nationals in the 60s bob haynes, michael seth smith and 1 or 2 others, o hehir did some bbc radio national commentaries in the 80s

How anyone call commentary of this race poor is beyond me.

Agree with this comment. There were plenty of falls, but you hardly see them at the third fence. Although it is a splendid special tackle to watch, I like to know that the horses and jockeys walk away

Excuse my predictive text. I meant spectacle!

pathe have a different angle

@ianbennet Just rename it the English national and be done with it!