The 1938 Grand National was the 97th renewal of the

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

horse race that took place at

Aintree Aintree is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England. Historically in Lancashire, it lies between Walton and Maghull on the A59 road, north-east of Liverpool city centre, in North West England. I ...

near

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

, England, on 25 March 1938. The steeplechase was won narrowly by American thoroughbred Battleship, a 40/1 shot ridden by 17-year-old jockey

Bruce Hobbs Bruce Robertson Hobbs (December 27, 1920 – November 22, 2005) was an English jockey and racehorse trainer. Born on Long Island, New York, Hobbs became the youngest jockey ever to ride the winner of the English Grand National when successful ...

and trained by Reg Hobbs, for owner

Marion duPont Scott Marion duPont Scott (May 3, 1894 – September 4, 1983) was a thoroughbred horsebreeder who operated a racing stable for both flat and steeplechase racing. She was the last private owner of Montpelier, the mansion and land estate of former Unite ...

. Royal Danieli finished in second place, with Workman third and last year's second-placed Cooleen was fourth. Workman won the National the following year and Cooleen also finished fourth in 1939. Battleship is the only horse to have won both the Grand National at Aintree and the

American Grand National The Grand National Hurdle Stakes is an American National Steeplechase Association sanctioned steeplechase race run each fall at Far Hills, New Jersey. It is a Grade 1 event run over miles. It has been known by a variety of names over the years, i ...

. Thirty-six horses ran in the race, including the previous year's winner Royal Mail, who was pulled-up before the second

Canal Turn The Canal Turn is a fence on Aintree Racecourse's National Course and thus is jumped during the Grand National steeplechase which is held annually at the racecourse, located near Liverpool, England. Named for the Leeds & Liverpool Canal which pas ...

with a broken blood vessel.

Media coverage and aftermath

Winning rider Bruce Hobbs later explained that he had Fred Rimell to thank in part for his victory. Hobbs stated that Battleship had landed very steeply at Becher's Brook and cut his chin on the ground, causing the pair to come to the seventh fence wrong. Battleship had to veer sharply to take the jump and as Hobbs stated. "He caught me off balance and I was starting to fall off when suddenly I got a push up the bum back into the saddle" rom Rimell Of the finish Hobbs stated "I didn't hit the little horse because he wouldn't go for the stick, but he gave everything and got up and won. I thought it was half a length but they gave it as a head and all the Irish said if there was a photograph I would have been second." Hobbs himself never raced in the National again after a fall later that year resulted in a back injury that ended his riding career.

Finishing order

Non-finishers

References

{{Grand National 1938

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

20th century in Lancashire

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