2006 Numbersixvalverde

Named after owner Bernard Carroll’s holiday home in Portugal, Numbersixvalverde gave rider ‘Slippers’ Madden and trainer Martin Brassil their finest racing moment with this victory. The gelding won the Irish Grand National the previous year in addition to the Thyestes Chase at Gowran.

1996 Rough Quest

Mick Fitzgerald will never forget, or be allowed to, his comments post-race after steering the Terry Casey-trained Rough Quest to victory. Runner-up in the Gold Cup at Cheltenham on his previous start, he never recaptured his best form and his only other success came in a hunter chase at Newbury.

1986 West Tip

Carried a distinctive scar following an accident with a motorcar in his younger days. West Tip won with Richard Dunwoody in the saddle on the second of his six attempts over the Aintree course. He finished runner-up three years later and was also fourth twice in the race. Beat a full field of 40 runners.

1976 Rag Trade

Twenty years after he won his first Grand National with E.S.B. Fred Rimell trained his fourth and last winner of the race with Rag Trade, ridden by John Burke. Rimell was champion trainer five times following a career in the saddle that saw him crowned champion jockey on three occasions.

1966 Anglo

Fred Winter trained Anglo to win the race, relegating Freddie to the runner-up spot for the second year in a row. Days after the race came the news that the racecourse, as a result of a House of Lords appeal, could be sold for development and plans were for it to be built on.

1956 E.S.B

Dave Dick won the race on the Fred Rimell-trained E.S.B. but he later admitted to being a very lucky winner of the race as Devon Loch, carrying the royal colours, inexplicably appeared to jump a shadow when he had the race well and truly in his grasp. It has provided one of the most iconic race images ever since.

1946 Lovely Cottage

No race was run during the war years 1941-45. It was said that 400,000 attended the races in 1946 to watch Lovely Cottage, the son of 14-time point-to-point winner The Nun III, win, with the great Prince Regent third. The winner was bred in Fermoy, Co Cork by the Hyde family.

1936 Reynoldstown

The winner was repeating his success in the race in 1935 for owner and trainer Major Noel Furlong, the one difference being that Major Furlong’s son Frank was in the saddle the first time, while Fulke Walwyn, who also won the race as a trainer, was on board this time round. Both riders had served in the 9th Lancers together.

1926 Jack Horner

Winning owner Charles Schwartz bought the winner a week before the race for £4,000 and the proviso of another £2,000 if he won the race. The winner’s prize was £7,635 and Schwartz gave the winning rider William Watkinson £1,000. Sadly Watkinson was killed racing at Bogside three weeks later.

1916 Vermouth

Wartime race, one of three run at what is now the airport at Gatwick. Organisers tried to replicate the Aintree course but only managed 29 fences instead of 30. Race was run as the Racecourse Association Steeplechase and overseen by the National Hunt Committee, with Edward Topham supervising.

1906 Ascetic’s Silver

The Honourable Aubrey Craven Theophilus Robin Hood Hastings trained and rode this winner for the German Prince Franz von Hatzfeldt. Hastings was an exceptional polo player and reached a 7-goal handicap during his career, which included a victory in the All Ireland Open Cup, and he died after a game of polo.

1896 The Soarer

The winner was owned by William Hall Walker, well known for his association with the Irish National Stud, and he bought the gelding a few weeks before the race from the winning jockey, Captain David Campbell. The rider went on to become General Sir David Campbell and was Governor of Malta.

1886 Old Joe

Many myths exist about this winner. What is known is that he had hunted before going racing and, on the day before the big race, received a knock which necessitated standing with his off-fore in ice-cold water for the night to reduce the swelling. He won 13 races during his career.

1876 Regal

One of just five horses to have won the race as a five-year-old. He was trained and ridden by Joseph Cannon who later went on to train for Lord Rosebery and trained a number of classic winners. Cannon’s brother Tom also won the Grand National as a trainer with Playfair in 1988.

1866 Salamander

The trainer Edward Studd had £1,000 on his winner who was returned at 40/1. Putting this in perspective, his winnings would be worth the equivalent of some £3 million today. The winning jockey Alec Goodman was no stranger to victory in the marathon having landed the spoils 14 years earlier.

1856 Freetrader

This was the last year in which the race was run in February. It was the first of five wins for jockey George Stevens, a record that still stands, and the first of three wins in five years in the race for Cheltenham trainer William Holman. The winner later stood as a stallion.

1846 Pioneer

Run as the Grand Liverpool Steeplechase, this was the eighth running of the race. The winner was a complete outsider, and the race was a real muddle. Only five of the then record 22 starters officially finished and the winner ran again the following week at Leamington Spa and won.