Specify (foaled 1962) was a British-bred

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are c ...

racehorse 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 pr ...

who competed in

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: ...

and is noted for winning the

1971 Grand National The 1971 Grand National was the 125th renewal of the Grand National horse race that took place at Aintree near Liverpool, England, on 3 April 1971. Gay Buccaneer was very unlucky having been the clear leader at the Canal turn on the first c ...

Background

Specify was a bay gelding bred in

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

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 ...

by Alan Parker. He was initially purchased by Arthur Freeman, a former jockey who had won the

1958 Grand National The 1958 Grand National was the 112th renewal of the Grand National horse race that took place at Aintree near Liverpool, England, on 29 March 1958. From an initial entry of 56 The field of 31 runners competed for record prize money of nearly ...

riding Mr. What. In 1970 Specify was bought by

Fred Pontin Sir Frederick William Pontin (24 October 1906 – 30 September 2000) was the founder of Pontins holiday camps and one of the two main entrepreneurs in the British holiday camp business in the 30 years after World War II, alongside Billy Butlin. ...

Racing career

Specify won the 1969 Plate Handicap Chase before being bought by Fred Pontin who entered him in the

1970 Grand National The 1970 Grand National was the 124th renewal of the Grand National horse race that took place at Aintree near Liverpool, England, on 4 April 1970. Gay Trip won the race by 20 lengths, giving jockey Pat Taaffe his second winner. Only seven horse ...

were he was brought down at fence 22. He then went on to win the

in a tightly fought race between five horses, Specify managed to win by a neck. He would then compete in the

1972 Grand National The 1972 Grand National was the 126th renewal of the Grand National horse race that took place at Aintree near Liverpool, England, on 8 April 1972. The winner was Well To Do, whose price went down from 33–1 to 14-1 the day before. Former wi ...

coming in 6th.

Grand National record

References

{{reflist 1962 racehorse births Racehorses bred in the United Kingdom Racehorses trained in the United Kingdom Grand National winners