The 1962 Grand National was the 116th renewal of the

Grand National The Grand National is a National Hunt horse race held annually at Aintree Racecourse in Aintree, Merseyside, England. First run in 1839, it ...

horse race Horse racing is an equestrian performance activity, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its bas ...

that took place at

Aintree Racecourse Aintree Racecourse is a horse racing, racecourse in Aintree, Merseyside, England, near to Liverpool. The racecourse is the venue for the Grand National steeplechase (horse racing), steeplechase, which takes place annually in April over three da ...

near

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, England, on 31 March 1962. The race was won by Kilmore, a 28/1 shot ridden by jockey

Fred Winter Frederick Thomas Winter, (20 September 1926 – 5 April 2004) was a British National Hunt racing racehorse jockey and trainer. He was British jump racing Champion Jockey four times and British jump racing Champion Trainer eight times. He is t ...

. The 12-year-old horse was trained by Ryan Price. Wyndburgh was second, and Mr. What finished third. Thirty-two horses ran and all returned safely to the stables. Kilmore was owned by movie executives

Nat Cohen Nat Cohen (23 December 1905 – 10 February 1988)William D. Rubinstein, et al (eds.''The Palgrave Dictionary of Anglo-Jewish History'' Palgrave Macmillan, 2011, p.171 was a British film producer and executive. For over four decades he was one of t ...

and Stuart Levy.

Build Up

Seventy seven entries were received and published on January 5th 1962 with Cheltenham Gold Cup winner, Pas Seul topping the handicap ratings. Two former winners of the race, Merrymen II and Mr What were also entered, along with the defending champion, Nicolaus Silver and two entries, The Rip and Out of Town for Her Majesty the Queen. Only one entry, Cantina, from Ireland wasn't qualified to receive a handicap rating and would be allocated automatic top weight of 12 stones.

Finishing order

Non-finishers

The Grand National : the history of the Aintree spectacular, by Stewart Peters & Bernard Parkin,

Media coverage

The

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

covered its third Grand National with

David Coleman David Robert Coleman (26 April 1926 – 21 December 2013) was a British sports commentator and television presenter who worked for the BBC for 46 years. He covered eleven Summer Olympic Games from 1960 to 2000 and six FIFA World Cups from 196 ...

again at the helm on Grand National

Grandstand A grandstand is a normally permanent structure for seating spectators, typically at sports stadiums and including both auto racing and horse racing. The grandstand is in essence like a single section of a stadium, but differs from a stadium i ...

Peter O'Sullevan Sir Peter O'Sullevan (3 March 1918 – 29 July 2015) was an Irish-British horse racing commentator for the BBC, and a correspondent for the Press Association, the ''Daily Express'', and ''Today''. He was the BBC's leading horse racing commen ...

, Bob Haynes and Peter Montague-Evans provided the commentary.

Quotes

"I can't understand why none of you he newspaper tipstersdidn't tip him? After last year I knew he would win. I'm getting too old to enjoy these things." Winning jockey Fred Winter. "I would nearly have won but he landed bang on top of the fourth fence out and it knocked all the steam out of him" Johnny Lehane, jockey of Mr What. "He was cantering and wasn't so much brought down, as knocked over by a horse jumping across him. I think Team Spirit." Stan Mellor on the fate of Favourite, Frenchman's Cove.

References

1962 1962

Grand National The Grand National is a National Hunt horse race held annually at Aintree Racecourse in Aintree, Merseyside, England. First run in 1839, it ...

March 1962 sports events in the United Kingdom {{horseracing-race-stub