One For Arthur: 'For other horses it was a test but for him it was easy'
Fans' Favourites is a weekly feature in the Racing Post Weekender in which we talk to those closest to racing's most popular horses and find out why they tug on our heartstrings. This week's subject: One For Arthur
In 1979 Rubstic claimed Scotland's first ever success in the Grand National. He surged home late, one of just seven finishers in the gruelling marathon, claiming victory by one and half lengths.
It was a euphoric triumph for the country and it would take almost four decades to replicate, when another staying star with a love for Aintree would carry the same number 22 saddlecloth to victory. This time it was the turn of One For Arthur, the honest and tough chaser who put the Scottish town of Milnathort on the map and changed the life of trainer Lucinda Russell.
"People always said to me that winning the National would change everything and I didn't believe them, but it really did," Russell says. "It gives you something to look back on that no-one can take away from you. We achieved it and it's something I'll always be proud of."
The story that led to that golden moment in 2017 began four years earlier, when old school friends Belinda McClung and Deborah Thomson reconnected at one of Russell's open days at Arlary House Stables.
Both horse enthusiasts, the chance meeting led to the pair purchasing a horse at Cheltenham's December sale. The new ownership was named the Two Golf Widows, a tongue-in-cheek nod to their partners' favourite pastime, and they set off to find a horse who could give them some thrills at their local Kelso racecourse. What they discovered that day was a little more special.
Russell says: "Arthur was a standout. When you saw him he was awe-inspiring, he just looked tremendous. He doesn't have perfect conformation but he was floaty with a long stride. We decided on him that day and Debs and Belinda had a certain figure in their head, which of course had to be increased by 50 per cent when the bidding started."
One For Arthur – who had run in five point-to-points in Ireland, winning one – was sold for £60,000 and moved to Kinross. He made his debut for Russell two months later, finishing second in a Newcastle bumper. Big and scopey, his early ability shone through and the five-year-old made a slow but steady start to his novice hurdling career.
Although not brilliant over flights, he placed three times before success began to roll in. His five-length romp at Haydock in January 2015 prompted Belinda's partner Fraser to propose to her, and two follow-up successes at Ayr earned One For Arthur a crack at the Grade 1 Doom Bar Sefton Novices' Hurdle at Aintree that year.
It was to be the last run over hurdles for One For Arthur and not one ending in glory, with jockey Peter Buchanan pulling up before the third-last flight in a race won by Thistlecrack.
One For Arthur began the 2015-16 season with a stylish chasing debut success at Kelso, and he subsequently dabbled in the placings throughout his novice season. However, it wasn't until the start of the following campaign that a dream of loftier goals began to form.
Russell says: "Every time we ran him we knew we needed further. So we sat down in the summer and said to the owners, 'What do you want to do, what's the one race you'd really like to aim for?' And they both said the Grand National."
With Buchanan bowing out of the sport after 13 years as Russell's stable jockey, Derek Fox was called up for the ride on One For Arthur on his seasonal reappearance at Kelso, where a soaring leap at the final fence leading to a six-length victory confirmed his place in December's Becher Chase – a vital test to see if One For Arthur was Grand National material.
"He finished fifth in the Becher and was only beaten by three lengths, but he just loved the fences," Russell says. "You could see when he just suddenly worked it out, his whole posture just said 'I love it here, I can do this'. For other horses it was a test but for him it was easy.
"We were so excited after that and we went to the Classic Chase at Warwick in January. He was really outpaced at the start and dropped right out at the top of the hill. My head went down and I started to think about what excuses I could make, but as he came down the hill he just suddenly started gaining momentum and by the time he turned the bottom corner you knew he was going to win. We were watching an exceptionally good stayer. I remember driving home after the race and Scu [Russell's partner Peter Scudamore] said, 'This is it. This is our chance at a National'."
The team began intense preparations for Aintree. Russell mapped out his work schedule right up to the day of the National, while Scudamore organised the jockey rota for each of One For Arthur's pieces of work. A retired racehorse named Quito Du Tresor was brought back as a work partner to stop One For Arthur demoralising one of Russell's current runners.
"We always go four times up the gallops and the first time the other horses would be laughing at Arthur, as he goes quite steady. Yet by the fourth time they'd be jelly legged, unable to keep up with him. That was his immense ability," Russell says.
"We did everything we could to cover our bases. We were just utterly focused on the prep – it was a remarkable feeling. Ten days before Aintree we had a press day and the rest of the time we just concentrated on him. It was nothing flashy, there was never anything flash about Arthur. It was just honest routine and working as hard as you could."
Things never stay simple for long. Four weeks before the Aintree meeting Fox was partnering the Russell-trained Ryalex – a uniquely one-eared gelding – in a novice chase at Carlisle when they fell heavily at the first fence. Ryalex sprang to his feet. Fox did not.
"My first thought was all was well as the horse was up," Russell recalls, "but Derek had broken his wrist, so you're immediately trying to work out if you can take on medical science to be back in time.
"He went to Jack Berry House and I think he found it very hard mentally. It can be difficult for a jockey to suddenly be put into a regimented and restrictive setting. He knuckled down, he was so determined to be back in time, but it was a tough."
In the hands of the Injured Jockeys Fund, Fox completed his recovery in the nick of time. A practice run to confirm his fitness was held the day before the National in the Topham Chase – "a bit of a big ask," Russell admits – but the jockey came out of the trial buzzing with excitement. The dream was back on.
A sunny morning dawned on April 8 and Russell found herself with nothing to do. The preparation was over, the horse was ready, and the only thing left to do was wait for the race.
"It's a really odd feeling, the calmness you get. Everything happens very slowly and you're just killing time. I didn't watch the other races, it's all about your horse and what he's going to do.
"I stood in the paddock and there were so many horses and people, it's not like any other race. I suddenly saw Arthur and even I was taken aback because he just looked so amazing. It was emotional because it was a release of all this pressure and tension when I saw him finally in the paddock. That was the moment where I passed the baton to Derek.
"There are no instructions to give. Scu said to try and be as handy as you can but Arthur can't be handy, he was a horse that would always be steady as others passed him but at the end he would be the one galloping on. That was exactly what happened in the race."
One For Arthur settled in the rear of the field and did what he did best – outstayed every horse ahead of him. As others tired he kept moving, slowly creeping his way past the struggling rivals with the same steady rhythm and bold jumping.
"We thought he was going to win at the Canal Turn. He'd been at the back and just came along and ploughed past them all. Then he crossed the Melling Road and started moving up the field exactly as he used to do in the gallops at home, he had so much energy still."
It was over before they hit the Elbow. The official winning margin was four and a half lengths, a testament to the ability of a horse tailor-made for the nation's biggest race combined with a training plan executed to perfection. In the hot afternoon sun the horses were unsaddled immediately on the track, and instead of heading straight for the winner's enclosure One For Arthur was paraded past the grandstands.
"That moment was amazing," Russell says. "So many people had come to be there and it let the crowd celebrate him properly. I just wanted to pat Arthur and tell him what a superstar he was.
"I was walking in between two interviews afterwards and someone asked me what time the reception would be tomorrow. It hadn't even occurred to me until that moment that we would have to organise something. I worried the whole way home no-one would turn up. We're in Milnathort, it's just a small town and I thought maybe no-one around would have watched the race and there would be no one to greet him. That was our fear."
Russell had no cause to worry. A packed crowd flooded the yard on Sunday morning to welcome home One For Arthur in an outpouring of local support. The team assembled for photos while travelling head lass Jaimie Duff held tight to the winner, who was soaking up the attention.
One For Arthur was ruled out the following season with a tendon injury, but the intention to return to the Grand National was always in the back of Russell's mind. Whereas the 2017 preparation had flawlessly come together, the build-up to the 2019 race was anything but. He unseated his jockey on his first two starts of the season and was denied a third run due to drying ground, meaning he was forced to contest the National without a single completed race to his name that season.
Russell says: "His preparation was absolutely horrendous. The weather was terrible, we hadn't managed to get a run. We were just so happy and relieved when he finished sixth. He'd had a year off and put in such a great performance considering. He was wonderful in that way and he just loved jumping around there. Whatever happened, that was his place. The fences, the pace, everything about that race suited him."
A fifth place in the Becher Chase at the end of 2019 set One For Arthur up for his third crack at the contest in April against two-time winner Tiger Roll, but then the Covid-19 pandemic changed everything and the National was cancelled.
"I was so pleased with him that season and I thought he would run much better. We really had him buzzing," Russell says. "The disappointment was there but we were so lucky that he was well and happy, it wasn't as if something terrible happened to him to stop us running.
"After that, we decided he was getting on and his chances of winning the National became less and less. He didn't owe us anything and so we decided to retire him while he was happy."
The decision was made in October last year to retire One For Arthur. He stayed at Russell's yard for several months after the announcement, taking up his usual corner box next to the office entrance. Never one for laziness, he was happy with routine and pleased to have something to do, and a future career will be charted out for him to keep the stable star content in retirement.
"It's very strange not seeing him at the yard anymore as he's so distinctive, you could always spot his face right away when you arrived," Russell says.
"He was a professional. He found his life and his work easy and he was very pleased to be able to do it but you always had to respect him. Arthur may be quite a diva, but he was an absolute joy."
Read more from our Fans' Favourites series:
Denman: 'He could pick you up and chuck you out the box or take your arm off'
Thomas Crapper: 'They bought him for £8,000 and he won them nearly £140,000'
Silviniaco Conti: 'His jumping never let him down – he was absolutely class'
Secretariat: 'He was something else – I'm still waiting to see one as good'
Lady Bowthorpe: 'Even on Newmarket Heath, people know who she is'
Quiet Reflection: 'It poured down but we didn't care as she destroyed them'
Alpha Delphini: 'I asked them to stick me 50 quid each-way on that morning
Canford Cliffs: 'He was one of the best racehorses in the last 50 years'
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