1989 Grand National
| Grand National | |
| Location | Aintree Racecourse |
|---|---|
| Date | 8 April 1989 |
| Winning horse |
 Little Polveir
|
| SP | 28/1 |
| Jockey |
 Jimmy Frost |
| Trainer |
 Toby Balding
|
| Owner | Edward Harvey |
| Conditions | Heavy |
|
← 1988
1990 →
|
|
 Replay and analysis of the 1989 Grand National YouTube |
The 1989 Grand National (officially known as the Seagram Grand National for sponsorship reasons) was the 143rd renewal of the Grand National horse race that took place at Aintree Racecourse near Liverpool, England, on 8 April 1989.
The race was won in a time of 10 minutes 6.9 seconds and by a distance of 7 lengths by Irish 12-year-old Little Polveir, ridden by jockey Jimmy Frost. West Tip was second and The Thinker finished third. Fourteen of the 40 runners completed the course.
The winner had been sold by a four-way partnership six weeks before the race to Edward Harvey. It was Little Polveir's fourth attempt at the Grand National; he was sent off at odds of 28/1. Jockey Frost's son, Hadden, attempted to emulate his father's victory 22 years later by riding Calgary Bay in the 2011 Grand National; he fell at the fourth fence.
There were two equine fatalities during the race, both at Becher's Brook. The deaths came two years after the dramatic fatal fall of the popular grey Dark Ivy at Becher's in 1987. Following an outcry, Aintree took significant measures to reduce the severity of the fence.
The main race was seen by a record Grand National crowd at Aintree, with 74,189 people in attendance, over 8,500 more than the previous year, and it would not be until the Monday race of 1997 that a larger crowd would attend the main race day.
Dixton House was backed down from 33/1 to 7/1 favourite after he won the National Hunt Handicap Chase at Cheltenham a few weeks before Aintree, helping his rider, Tom Morgan, to the leading rider's trophy at the festival in the process. Morgan, having his fifth ride in the Grand National, took the favourite to the front going to Becher's Brook for the first time, only to crumple on landing and exit the contest. Dixton House only ever returned to a racecourse once more, in January 1990, when he pulled up lame and was subsequently retired while Morgan also never raced in the National again.
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Wikipedia