Thomas Frederic Rimell (24 June 1913 – 12 July 1981), better known as Fred Rimell, was a British champion
National Hunt racing
In horse racing in the United Kingdom, France and Republic of Ireland, National Hunt racing requires horses to jump fences and ditches. National Hunt racing in the UK is informally known as "jumps" and is divided into two major distinct branches: ...
jockey and horse trainer. He was
champion jockey three times and
leading trainer five times. Rimell was the first jumping trainer to earn £1 million in prize money for his owners.
Rimell gained the title of
“Mr Grand National”, having trained four winning horses of the steeplechase. They were
ESB (
1956),
Nicolaus Silver
Nicolaus Silver was a racehorse noted for winning the 1961 Grand National.
Nicolaus Silver, a grey horse was bred in Tipperary, Ireland, by James Heffernan. He was by Nicolaus, out of another grey, Rays of Montrose. After racing in Ireland, hi ...
(
1961
Events January
* January 3
** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba ( Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015).
** Aero Flight 311 ...
),
Gay Trip
Gay Trip was a racehorse noted for winning the 1970 Grand National.
Gay Trip was a small bay gelding owned by Tony Chambers and trained by Fred Rimell. Formerly a flat racing horse, Gay Trip was switched to National Hunt racing as a five-year-o ...
(
1970
Events
January
* January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC.
* January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of X (''Extrem ...
) and
Rag Trade
The textile industry is primarily concerned with the design, production and distribution of yarn, cloth and clothing. The raw material may be natural, or synthetic using products of the chemical industry.
Industry process
Cotton manufacturi ...
, who beat
Red Rum
Red Rum (3 May 1965 – 18 October 1995) was a champion Thoroughbred steeplechaser. He achieved an unmatched historic treble when he won the Grand National in 1973, 1974 and 1977, and also came second in the two intervening years, 1975 ...
in the
1976 Grand National[
Rimell was also responsible for two ]Cheltenham Gold Cup
The Cheltenham Gold Cup is a Grade 1 National Hunt horse race run on the New Course at Cheltenham Racecourse in England, over a distance of about 3 miles 2½ furlongs ( ...
winners. He trained Woodland Venture to victory in 1967 ridden by Terry Biddlecombe
Terry Biddlecombe (2 February 1941 – 5 January 2014) was an English National Hunt racing jockey in the 1960s and 1970s. He was Champion Jockey in 1965, 1966 and 1969.
Biddlecombe was born in Hartpury, Gloucester on 2 February 1941. He rode 1 ...
and in 1976 Royal Frolic came home first with John Burke in the saddle.
After his death in July 1981, his widow, Mercy (née Cockburn; born 27 June 1919, Budbrooke, Warwickshire – died 6 July 2017) assumed the training licence at Kinnersley, Worcestershire and continued to train top class winners. She won the 1983 Champion Hurdle with Gaye Brief.Aintree launches vote for Grand National legends
bbc.co.uk; accessed 7 July 2017. She retired in 1989 and died in 2017, aged 98.
References
1913 births
1981 deaths
British Champion jumps jockeys
British racehorse trainers
{{England-horseracing-bio-stub