The 1954 Grand National was the 108th annual 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 ...

steeplechase Steeplechase may refer to: * Steeplechase (horse racing), a type of horse race in which participants are required to jump over obstacles * Steeplechase (athletics), an event in athletics that derives its name from the steeplechase in horse racing ...

that took place at

Aintree Racecourse Aintree Racecourse is a horse racing, racecourse in Aintree, Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England, bordering the city of Liverpool. The racecourse is the venue for the Grand National steeplechase (horse racing), steeplechase, whi ...

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 popul ...

, England, on 10 April 1954. The race was won by ten-year-old gelding Royal Tan, an 8/1 shot trained by

Vincent O'Brien Vincent O'Brien (9 April 1917 – 1 June 2009) was an Irish horse racing, race horse horse trainer, trainer from Churchtown, County Cork, Churchtown, County Cork, Ireland. In 2003 he was voted the greatest influence in horse racing history in ...

. O'Brien had also trained the previous year's winner, Early Mist, and would secure a third consecutive win the following year with Quare Times. Royal Tan was ridden by jockey Bryan Marshall, who also won his second consecutive Grand National. Tudor Line was second and the 15/2 favourite Irish Lizard finished third. Only 29 horses ran in the race, the fewest since 1935 when 27 ran. The 1954 running saw four equine fatalities during the race; this remains the only Grand National renewal to have yielded four fatalities. Dominick's Bar dropped dead jumping the second fence; Paris New York incurred a

cervical fracture A cervical fracture, commonly called a broken neck, is a fracture of any of the seven cervical vertebrae in the neck. Examples of common causes in humans are traffic collisions and diving into shallow water. Abnormal movement of neck bones or pie ...

at the fourth. Legal Joy, who finished second two years previously, broke a leg at the 13th and was

euthanised Animal euthanasia (euthanasia from el, εὐθανασία; "good death") is the act of killing an animal or allowing it to die by withholding extreme medical measures. Reasons for euthanasia include incurable (and especially painful) conditio ...

, while Coneyburrow was injured at the 28th and was also put down. The two latter fatalities remain the only ones ever recorded at the 13th and 28th fences in the Grand National.

Finishing order

Non-finishers

The Grand National : the history of the Aintree spectacular, by Stewart Peters & Bernard Parkin,

References

{{Grand National 1954

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 ...

20th century in Lancashire