Ballabriggs (foaled 20 April 2001) is a retired

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 ...

-winning

National Hunt National Hunt Racing, also known as Jump Racing, is a form of horse racing particular to many European countries, including, but not limited to: France, Great Britain and Ireland. Jump Racing requires horses to jump over fences and ditches. In ...

racehorse trained by Donald McCain, Jr. in Cholmondeley,

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and owned by

Trevor Hemmings Trevor James Hemmings (11 June 1935 – 11 October 2021) was a British billionaire businessman. Early life Hemmings was born in Woolwich, London, on 11 June 1935, the son of a Royal Ordnance worker. During the Second World War, part of the Ro ...

Racing career

Ballabriggs' racecourse debut was in a 2-mile

National Hunt flat race National Hunt flat races, informally known as bumper races, are a type of flat racing but run under National Hunt racing rules in Britain and Ireland. National Hunt flat races were created on 15 July 1891 when a conference between the stewards of ...

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on 14 May 2006. He was ridden by Stephen Craine and finished 5th of 15, beaten 23 lengths, at

odds In probability theory, odds provide a measure of the probability of a particular outcome. Odds are commonly used in gambling and statistics. For example for an event that is 40% probable, one could say that the odds are or When gambling, o ...

of 13/2. For the next two seasons he campaigned unsuccessfully over

hurdles Hurdling is the act of jumping over an obstacle at a high speed or in a sprint. In the early 19th century, hurdlers ran at and jumped over each hurdle (sometimes known as 'burgles'), landing on both feet and checking their forward motion. Today ...

, before switching to chasing in December 2007. At Catterick on 18 January 2008, he was ridden for the first time by

Jason Maguire Jason Maguire (born 13 April 1980) is a former horse racing jockey. Early life and career Maguire is the nephew of another former jockey Adrian Maguire. He won the 2011 Grand National The 2011 Grand National (officially known as the John ...

who would go on to be the jockey with which he is most closely associated. At the sixth time of asking, and having finished runner up three times, he finally got off the mark as a chaser, winning a Class 4 Beginners' Chase at Bangor. In 2010, the gelding came to the fore as a chaser, winning five races in succession, including the

Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup The Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup is a National Hunt steeplechase (horse racing), steeplechase in Great Britain for amateur riders; it is open to horses aged five years or older. The chase i ...

at the

Cheltenham Festival The Cheltenham Festival is a horse racing-based meeting in the National Hunt racing calendar in the United Kingdom, with race prize money second only to the Grand National. The four-day festival takes place annually in March at Cheltenham Race ...

at odds of 9/1. Then in 2011, Ballabriggs had his greatest moment, winning the

2011 Grand National The 2011 Grand National (officially known as the John Smith's Grand National for sponsorship reasons) was the 164th renewal of the Grand National horse race that took place at Aintree near Liverpool, England. The showpiece steeplechase St ...

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 ...

. Ridden by Maguire, the horse's odds were between 14-1 and 20-1 before the race, but he unexpectedly remained in the leading pack for most of the race, before pulling out in front over the final fences. Ballabriggs finished ahead of

Sam Waley-Cohen Sam Bernard Waley-Cohen (born 15 April 1982) is an English entrepreneur and retired amateur National Hunt jockey. Horse racing Waley-Cohen was reported in the sports pages in 2007 when he came 5th on his father's horse Liberthine in the Grand ...

's Oscar Time in second, and

Tony McCoy Sir Anthony Peter McCoy (born 4 May 1974), commonly known as AP McCoy or Tony McCoy, is a Northern Irish former National Hunt horse racing jockey. Based in Ireland and Britain, McCoy rode a record 4,358 winners and was Champion Jockey a recor ...

Don't Push It Don't Push It (foaled 6 June 2000) is a retired British thoroughbred racehorse who won the Grand National in 2010. He was trained by Jonjo O'Neill at Jackdaws Castle yard near Cheltenham and ran in the green and yellow silks of owner J. P. Mc ...

in third. Dehydrated in the unusually hot weather, Ballabriggs immediately returned to the stable after the win, instead of going to the winners enclosure as tradition dictates. It was the first time only the jockey entered the winner's enclosure without his mount. Following his Grand National win Maguire received a five-day ban for excessive use of the whip in the closing stages, Ballabriggs having been driven so hard he required oxygen after the race. The horse never won again following his National success, although he contested two more Grand Nationals, finishing 6th in 2012, and pulling up in 2013, the final race of his career.

Retirement

He was retired on 13 April 2013 after pulling up in the

2013 Grand National The 2013 Grand National (officially known as the John Smith's Grand National for sponsorship reasons) was the 166th annual running of the Grand National horse race at Aintree Racecourse near Liverpool, England. The showpiece steeplechase, whic ...

and returned to live on the

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with owner Trevor Hemmings. He had run 28 races, winning 7.

Pedigree

References

{{Reflist

External links

Ballabriggs' pedigree and racing stats

Trainer Donald McCain's Official Website
Grand National winners 2001 racehorse births Thoroughbred family 3-n Racehorses bred in Ireland Racehorses trained in the United Kingdom National Hunt racehorses Cheltenham Festival winners