The 1971 Grand National was the 125th renewal of the Grand National

horse race Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic p ...

that took place at Aintree near

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England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, on 3 April 1971. Gay Buccaneer was very unlucky having been the clear leader at the Canal turn on the first circuit, only to be interfered with by a loose horse which resulted in him going from first to last, and finishing tenth.

Specify Specify (foaled 1962) was a British-bred Thoroughbred racehorse who competed in National Hunt racing and is noted for winning the 1971 Grand National. Background Specify was a bay gelding bred in Norwich, England by Alan Parker. He was initiall ...

was the winner from a close finish between the leading five in the final furlong.

Finishing order

Non-finishers

Media coverage

A special Grand National

Grandstand A grandstand is a normally permanent structure for seating spectators. This includes both auto racing and horse racing. The grandstand is in essence like a single section of a stadium, but differs from a stadium in that it does not wrap a ...

was presented by David Coleman on the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

for the twelfth year. Three commentators were used this year, Peter O'Sullevan,

Raleigh Gilbert Walter Raleigh Willock Gilbert, known as Raleigh Gilbert (28 February 1936 – c. February 1998) was a British horse racing commentator active for 40 years. Early life Born in Devon and educated at Sherborne School, Gilbert rode as an amateur wh ...

and Julian Wilson.

Peter Bromley Peter Bromley (30 April 1929 – 3 June 2003) was BBC Radio's voice of horse racing for 40 years, and one of the most famous and recognised sports broadcasters in the United Kingdom. Early life Born at Heswall on the Wirral (then in Cheshire) ...

was the lead commentator on BBC radio.

Aftermath

John Cook retired from racing the following year on medical advice and emigrated to Australia where he died after a long illness in 1999

References

* 1971 Grand National Grand National 20th century in Lancashire April 1971 sports events in the United Kingdom {{horseracing-race-stub