1850 Grand National

The 1850 Grand National was, at the time, the 15th annual running of a handicap steeplechase horse race at Aintree Racecourse near Liverpool, England on Wednesday, 27 February 1850. It was later retrospectively recorded as the twelfth official running in 1864. It attracted a then record field of thirty-two runners and was won by the unconsidered Irish entrant, Abd El Kader.

1850 Grand National

Grand National
Location	Aintree
Date	27 February 1850
Winning horse	Abd-El-Kader
Starting price	unquoted
Jockey	Chris Green
Trainer	Joseph Osborne
Owner	Joseph Osborne
Conditions	Good

Leading Contenders

Peter Simple was the long time favourite of the general public on the back of his winning the 1849 Grand National although there seemed to be some confusion over his ownership as most contemporary reports differ as to whose colours he was to carry. His trainer Tom Cunningham remained in the saddle, as he had been last year in victory. Contemporary reports stated that, in what proved to be Cunningham's second and final ride in the race, Peter Simple was stated by some contemporary newspaper sources as having finished the race in fifth position. Records of those that did not finish in the first three however were not officially recorded and modern records state that the horse did not complete the course. The proved to be Cunningham's final ride in the Grand National, although Peter Simple would return in 1851.

Sir John Was backed down to 7/1 to win in the colours of Lord Waterford, who himself had ridden in the 1840 Grand National and provided John Ryan with the best backed mount of the seventeen riders making their debut in the race. Ryan matched the owner's performance in the race by finishing third.

Rat Trap or Rattrap, as it was listed in some contemporary reports was the mount of John Frisby and was quoted at 9/1 on the course. The partnership did not complete the course, though it was not recorded what fate befell them.

The Victim was quoted at 12/1 by bookmakers and betting rooms. In the company of his rider, William Taylor, they failed to complete the course.

The Knight of Gwynne had finished second the previous year so was naturally well supported to improve on that performance. The horse this year ran in the colours of a Mr Fort and so had a new rider with the 1847 winning rider, Denny Wynne. The 12/1 shot again put in a good showing but was beaten before the winner came back into the view of those in the stands, running on gamely to finish second yet again.

The only other competitors that came under the consideration of the Bookmakers were Farnham and Vengeance at 13/1, The 1848 winner Chandler was at 16/1 with Columbine, Maria Day, Little Fanny and The Oaks attracting the lesser public money.

Abd El Kader lay among the "any price these others" category as to be so unconsidered that the Bookmakers did not see fit to offer a price to the public. With Chris Green in the saddle they began attracting attention during the race with Bookmakers offering odds of 20/1 in running until it became gradually clear that the Irish entry might stay the course and win. Known as "Little Ab" due to his diminutive stature, the horse was a little under fifteen hands high. He would go on to become the first dual winner of the race and the first to win in consecutive years when repeating the feat in 1851.

Finishing order

No official returns for the Grand National exist prior to 1865. The return below is taken from the account published by the reporter of The Times newspaper the day after the race. Contemporary news reports agree only on the finishing order of the first three and none make any report of the fate of those that did not complete the course.

In Victorian horse racing, riders who fell from their mounts would have felt obliged and even encouraged to remount and continue the chase unless they or their horse suffered injury or the horse could not be caught. It is probable that most of the competitors completed the course in some shape or form but at such a long interval from the winner that their completion went totally ignored by the public.

In the 1980s the Reg Green book, A race Apart recorded just seven finishers, in the order below, omitting Peter Simple and Columbine however none of the known contemporary news reports support this.

The official records for Aintree racecourse state that the winner completed the course in a time of 9 minutes 57 seconds, making this the first sub ten minute Grand National, however none of the contemporary newspapers reports of the time support this information with the few that did record the time stating that it was won in a time of 10 minutes 20 seconds.

position	name	rider	age	weight	starting price	distance or fate
1st	Abd-El-Kader	Chris Green	8	9-12	unquoted
2nd	The Knight of Gwynne	Denny Wynne		11-08	12/1	One length
3rd	Sir John	John Ryan		11-08	7/1	three lengths
4th	Tipperary Boy	Sam Darling	6	10-00	unquoted
5th	Peter Simple	Tom Cunningham	12	12-02	5/1 favourite
6th	Columbine	Tom Olliver		10-04	20/1
7th	Farnham	Tom Abbott	6	11-03	15/1
8th	Maria Day	H Rackley		10-05	25/1
9th	Vengeance	William Archer		9-10	15/1

Non finishers

position	name	rider	age	weight	starting price	fate
Fence 1	The Oaks	Charlie Canavan	5	10-05	30/1	Baulked & Fell
Canal side fence second circuit	Chandler	Josey Little	14	11-03	16/1	Collided and fell
Canal side fence second circuit	Rat Trap	John Frisby		11-07	9/1	Collided and fell
	British Yeoman	W Philpot		11-10	unquoted	Fate unrecorded
	The Victim	William Taylor		11-02	unquoted	Fate unrecorded
	Spring Buck	T Smith		10-12	unquoted	Pulled up
	The Iron Duke	John Hanlon	5	10-12	unquoted	Fate unrecorded
	Meath	J Neale		10-10	unquoted	Fate unrecorded
	Mulligan	Captain John Westropp	6	10-10	unquoted	Fate unrecorded
	Rory-Be-Aisy	Magee	5	10-10	unquoted	Fate unrecorded
	Quadruped	George Arran		10-08	unquoted	Fate unrecorded
	Bay Gelding By Laurel	John Butler		10-08	unquoted	Fate unrecorded
	Rainbow	J. Daly		10-08	unquoted	Fell at the post and rails in the fourth field where the rider suffered a broken thigh
	Everton	A Salt		10-08	unquoted	Fate unrecorded
	Shinrone	Henry? Bradley	6	10-05	unquoted	Fate unrecorded
	Sobriety	J Thompson		10-04	unquoted	Fate unrecorded
	Fisticuff	Edwin Parr		10-00	unquoted	fate unrecorded
	Hope	Mr H Hunter		9-12	unquoted	Fate unrecorded
	Kilkenny	William Holman		9-10	unquoted	Fate unrecorded
	Little Fanny	W Fowler		9-00	25/1	Fate unrecorded
	Johnnie Barrie	R. Maitland		9-00 {9-11}	unquoted	Fate unrecorded
	Pegasus	John Tasker		8-10	unquoted	Fate unrecorded
	The Pony	Dan Meaney		8-07	unquoted	Fate unrecorded