E.S.B. was an Irish-bred, British-trained

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a list of horse breeds, horse breed developed for Thoroughbred racing, horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thorough ...

racehorse which won the 1956 Grand National. E.S.B. was a dark bay gelding bred in

County Kildare County Kildare () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the Local gove ...

by Sheila Bourke. Trained by

Fred Rimell Thomas Frederic Rimell (24 June 1913 – 12 July 1981), better known as Fred Rimell, was a British champion National Hunt racing jockey and horse trainer. He was champion jockey three times and leading trainer five times. Rimell was the f ...

, E.S.B. was ridden by

jockey A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase (horse racing), steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing. The word "jockey" originated from England and was used ...

Dave Dick in the 1956 running of the

steeplechase SteepleChase Records is a jazz record company and label based in Copenhagen, Denmark. SteepleChase was founded in 1972 by Nils Winther, who was a student at Copenhagen University at the time. He began recording concerts at Jazzhus Montmartre, ...

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 ...

. He started at odds of 100/7 in a field of twenty-nine runners. The race seemed certain to be won by Devon Loch, who held a five-length lead on the run-in. However, forty yards from the finishing post, Devon Loch suddenly, and inexplicably, half-jumped into the air and collapsed in a bellyflop on the turf. E.S.B. overtook and sealed an unlikely victory, completing the course in 9 minutes 21.4 seconds, one second off the record completion time. E.S.B.'s win was the first of four for trainer Rimell, who went on to train winners

Nicolaus Silver Nicolaus Silver was a racehorse noted for winning the 1961 Grand National. Nicolaus Silver, a grey horse was bred in County Tipperary, Ireland, by James Heffernan. He was by Nicolaus, out of another grey, Rays of Montrose. After racing in Irel ...

(1961), Gay Trip (1970) and Rag Trade (1976).

References

{{Grand National Thoroughbred family 1-k 1946 racehorse births Grand National winners Racehorses trained in the United Kingdom Racehorses bred in Ireland National Hunt racehorses