The
ultimate champion happened to be the 18-1 Mr. What, outdistancing
number two by a whopping 30 lengths. This winning horse was steered
by jockey Arthur Freeman and coached by Tom Taaffe senior...becoming
the fifth contestant to clinch the grand title since the Second World
War.
According
to news reports doing rounds at the time, jockey Pat
Taaffe who I'm sure dabbles with roulette en ligne should have steered Mr. What instead Arthur Freeman. He, however, missed the much-sought chance to ride his father-trained horse and
make the unique history that comes with such striking firsts in the
competitive racing world.
Aged
only eight years at that time, and proudly owned by David Coughlan, who hadn't even heard about casino games online, was enthralled by his promising gelding a winner of a major derby title for
the very first time. Those in the know will nevertheless bear in mind
the fact that the same equine champion had participated in sundry
other sporting showdowns before, most without any exemplary results.
It
is also important to note that Arthur Freeman served as the Queen
Mother's professional rider...and that not many racing fans really
expected him to achieve such an awesome feat that very sporting
season. Putting up 6 lb(equivalent to 2.7 kg) overweight, the
trophy-winning pair appeared hugely favored by the prevailing
precarious ground conditions of the time. It was all seemingly
credible to the unmistakable preparedness of the triumphant pair
and the other stakeholders(including the trainer and owner) that
possibility such a colorful victory that day.
Although
the champion horse appears to have been largely favored by the tricky
conditions that ruined chances for closest rivals, the year witnessed
the longest winning distance. Mr. Freeman won by a staggering 30
lengths - a rather huge winning gap unwitnessed in many other similar
races before, or even long after.
Keen
followers of the annual racing event will remember that 1958 The national champion would continue to participate in the succeeding
years...somehow inking nearly equally spectacular records -
maintaining a third position in the 1959 and 1962 unveilings.
Nonetheless, Mr. What did not win any other Grand National title or
excel thus exceptionally in any other similarly high-profile equine
competition.
The
winning duo survived two pretty encumbering blunders - at the very
last jumping point and at the Becher's brook. The impact of these
potentially destabilizing obstacles got summarily swept away by the
sheer wisdom of the old proverb that it's indeed well that which ends
well.
The
two midtrack mishaps, however, proved costly, as Arthur was later
diagnosed with minor head injuries that greatly affected his sporting
career. He resorted to training at Suffolk, at which later equine
instruction station he churned out excellent products such as
Tibidabo...that unforgettable sprinter who won the National Hunt
Centenary in 1966. This minor victory was nevertheless nothing
compared to his unforgettable big day back in 1958.
He
was all the same able to make do with other averagely rewarding
victories in several other fairly rewarding races like Juvenile
Hurdle on Le Bel and King George VI Chase using Lochroe. These
post-1958 successes served to portray the prizewinning jockey as a
real history-changing equestrian icon of superlative skill.
Arthur
was born on January 7th, 1926 - to a Zetland huntsman named Bill
Freeman. He began by racing on the flat in 1939 for George Lambton, a
Newmarket trainer of remarkable repute. And he actually came from an
illustrious pedigree of great racers that included his elder brother
Bill's riding a Cap-A-Pie to emerge first in the Ebor for Lord Derby.
Having
had a colorful stint in the war as an infantryman, Arthur came out
rather battle-hardened go-getter and ready for gritty action on
crowded racecourses. And he in such contests excelled with tremendous
success, his 1958 National being crystal-clear evidence of this
fact.
A season later, he rode as second jockey (behind Dick Francis); a tough
assignment that he capably undertook for Peter Cazaletat, a major in
the local military ranks.
In
1955, he steered the French-trained M'As-Tu-Vu for the Queen Mother,
thus taking a prominent part in the year's National. He again tried
his luck in the same event the following year, without much success,
finishing nineteenth.
