L’Escargot (1963–1984) was an Irish

national hunt 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: ...

racehorse notable as being a

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 (3 ...

and

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 ...

winner. L'Escargot, whose name is French for the Snail, was a large chestnut gelding with a small white star. He was bought for 3,500 guineas as a three-year-old at the Ballsbridge Sales by the United States ambassador to Ireland Raymond R. Guest and went into trainig with Dan Moore. L'Escargot made his first appearance at the

Cheltenham Festival The Cheltenham Festival is a horse racing-based meeting in the National Hunt racing calendar in the United Kingdom, with race prize money second only to the Grand National. The four-day festival takes place annually in March at Cheltenham Ra ...

in 1968 when he was a five-year-old, winning the second division of the Gloucestershire Hurdle with his regular jockey

Tommy Carberry Tommy Carberry (15 September 1941 – 12 July 2017) was a Irish jockey who rode mostly in National Hunt races. He was Irish jump racing Champion Jockey four times. He is best known for winning the 1975 Grand National on L'Escargot. He rode a to ...

. The following year L'Escargot won the Irish Champion Hurdle at

Leopardstown Leopardstown () is a suburb of Dublin in Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, within the traditional County Dublin, Ireland. Located at the foot of the Dublin Mountains, it is a residential suburb with institutional lands and a large racecourse. It is ...

and then started second favourite in the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham and finished sixth behind the favourite Persian War. At the end of the season he went to the United States and ran three times, winning the Meadow Brook Chase at Belmont Park, New York, and being named US Champion Steeplechaser. In 1970 L'Escargot started as a 33/1 outsider in the Cheltenham Gold Cup. The favourite Kinloch Brae having fallen at the third-last fence, L'Escargot stayed on after the last to beat French Tan by a length and a half. He won the race again in 1971, and came fourth in 1972 and 1973. In 1972 L'Escargot started as 17/2 favourite in his first Grand National but was brought down at the third fence. The following year he finished third behind

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 ...

and Crisp and in 1974 he was beaten into second place by Red Rum. In the

1975 Grand National The 1975 Grand National (officially known as the ''News of the World'' Grand National for sponsorship reasons) was the 129th renewal of the Grand National Horse racing, horse race that took place at Aintree Racecourse, Aintree near Liverpoo ...

he started second favourite behind Red Rum. Having nearly unseated Carberry at the fence after

Becher's Brook Becher's Brook ( ) is a fence jumped during the Grand National, a National Hunt horse race held annually at Aintree Racecourse near Liverpool, England. It is jumped twice during the race, as the and fence, as well as on four other occasions ...

on the first circuit, he went on to win, beating Red Rum by fifteen lengths. He became only the second horse to win both the Cheltenham Gold Cup and the Grand National, the other being

Golden Miller Golden Miller (1927–1957) was a Thoroughbred racehorse who is the most successful Cheltenham Gold Cup horse ever, winning the race in five consecutive years between 1932 and 1936. He also is the only horse to win both of the United Kingdom's p ...

. It was owner Guest's intention that the twelve-year-old L'Escargot would be retired after his Grand National win, and he was given to his trainer's wife, Joan Moore. To Guest's consternation he was raced on one more occasion, coming second in the Kerry National, after which Guest asked for him back and took him to the US, where he died in 1984. L'Escargot was inducted into the United States Racing Hall of Fame in 1977.

Grand National record

References

{{Grand National 1963 racehorse births 1984 racehorse deaths Grand National winners National Hunt racehorses Cheltenham Gold Cup winners Byerley Turk sire line United States Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame inductees