The Grand National is known for many things—its difficulty, the number of fences that have to be jumped, and the number of grey horses that have ever won it.
If you're a frequent visitor to this website or follow us on Facebook, you will already know that every year, after the entries and weights are declared, that we analyse the potential grey runners.
Even after doing this job for a very long time, I'm still not exactly sure what the fascination with this particular type of horse is other than they tend to look more ethereal or otherworldly than their bay or chestnut counterparts.
Whatever the reason, there's always great excitement around a potential grey winner, but as the years roll by, the numbers remain fairly static, with only three having ever won the race.
They are The Lamb in 1868 and 1871, Neptune Collonges in 2012 and of course, the reason you are reading this…Nicolaus Silver in 1961.
One of a very select handful of grey horses to have won the Grand National, Nicolaus Silver was a horse of striking good looks. But that obviously was not all he had in terms of assets, as he was also an extremely well-balanced and very precise jumper.
A Brief History
Bred in Tipperary, Ireland in 1952, by the bay Nicolaus out of the grey Rays of Montrose, he had initially been highly underrated in his home country, where he was viewed as only a moderate chaser.
When Bobby Beasley, the jockey who rode him to victory in the National, initially saw him run a three-mile chase at Naas in 1960, that was his shared opinion, but he and other detractors had only ever seen him race on unfavourably soft or heavy ground.
His trainer Dan Kirwan died suddenly in 1960 which led the then eight year old grey to be sold at the Dublin market.
There was plenty of bidding, not least because he had already qualified for the Grand National. The two main challengers to buy him were Ivor Herbert, who was accompanied by the film producer Frank Lauder and Fred Rimell who was accompanied by Jeremy Vaughan
Vaughan desperately wanted to beat his father, who had owned First Of The Dandies, who had been the runner-up in the 1948 National (won by Sheila's Cottage). The battle between the two (or the four if you like) was won by Fred Rimell with his bid of £2,600.
Pre-Race Preparations
When Nicolaus Silver got to the Kinnersley stables in Worcestershire, he didn’t impress riders Tim Brookshaw or Bobby Beasley.
However, he did win his final pre-National race which was the Kim Muir Memorial Challenge Cup at Cheltenham.
In the weeks leading up to the 1961 National, Rimell made such an improvement in the horse that just before the race he sent a telegram to his owner in Spain reporting that the horse had ‘a very, very good chance’ of winning.
Rimell in his time as a racehorse trainer would turn out four National winners, but he always maintained that never had he been more confident of a horse before the race as he was with Nicolaus Silver.
It was not all plain sailing with rumours of a doping plot so, as a precaution, another grey, High Spot was sent in the box bearing Nicolaus Silver’s name. It could never be confirmed that it was due to doping but High Spot was never deemed fit enough to race again.
More mayhem ensued when the grey was being fitted with racing plates. He was ‘pricked’ and had to have his foot in a poultice overnight in order to draw out the abscess. These days, that would probably rule him out of contention, but not in 1961!
The Big Win
Thankfully once the race was underway no more drama ensued, and the only one slightly worrying moment was at Bechers second time round when he had a bit of an unsteady landing.
For the rest of the race, he ran and jumped like a dream, trailing the previous year’s winner, Merryman II, who was in the lead.
From the second to last fence, Nicolaus Silver’s twenty-five-pound weight advantage was evident as he pulled away on the run-in to win by five lengths.
Vaughan had not only beat his own father but had made a lot of money. Just that year the value given to the winning owner had increased from £13,134 to £20,020, and on advice from Rimell he had backed the grey from 40-1 down to the starting price of 28-1.
The key to Nicolaus Silver’s success was the ground. He needed the going to be at least good, and when he had another go at the National in 1962, carrying an extra nine pounds, it was the heavy ground that beat him.
He couldn't repeat his victory from 1961 and had to be content to finish seventh out of just seventeen runners.
Racing Until The End
Owner Charles Vaughan’s fortunes changed dramatically soon after and Nicolaus Silver was sold on to Bernard Sunley.
Hoping for more winning ways from his new purchase, Sunley had him run in the Cheltenham Gold Cup. He fell in that race before a final attempt at Aintree resulted in him getting round slowly when tenth to Ayala.
Unfortunately as his racing career was coming he started to break blood vessels at which point Fred Rimell retired him.
Sadly, in 1966, Nicolaus Silver put a leg through a cattle grid, broke it and died as a result.
