From plough-pulling farm horse to Grand National great

Tyrone has been hot on the heels of history for the last few years, but most of us have been galloping towards this illustrious anniversary in ignorance.

Today (Thursday) marks 100 years since a horse with close county connections won the biggest race of them all, The Grand National.

On this date, exactly a century ago, a ‘farm horse’ by the name of Master Robert beat the bookies, outran the odds, and crossed the finish line at Aintree ahead of the rest of the gold-hungry herd.

A rank outsider running at 25 to one, the racing world – which at the time was at the height of its powers – was confounded when this once-plough-pulling workhorse became the unlikely winner of the sport’s most prestigious steeplechase.

The legendary lore surrounding this creature’s incredible exploits is as long as some of the details are dubious.

However, to celebrate the centenary of his myth-muddied triumph, with the help of a few friends, the ‘Herald has been trying to parse fact from fiction, all in an effort to bring readers the true story of one of Tyrone’s greatest ever competitors.

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An animal with beginnings that betrayed nothing of the fairytale future that was to come, Master Robert was born in Sessiahmore, Castlefinn, Donegal, and bred by a man named Robert McKinlay.

Across the dung-laden lane from McKinlay dwelt a fellow farmer, whose daughter now lives in Omagh.

Last week, Denise McCaffrey called into the our offices and spread a collection of photographs and documents across a table.

“After McKinley’s death, his family passed a lot of artifacts and historical records onto my father,” said Denise, peering down upon her papery lot. Do you know there are no pictures of Master Robert hung on the walls at Aintree? There are photographs of the winners from 1922, 1923, 1925, the whole lot, but not 1924.”

Determined to mend this broken link and highlight Master Robert’s Tyrone ties, Denise has been on a bit of a mission lately.

“I want to see his achievement properly recognised and honoured, both at home and in Aintree.”

In the course of her enquiries, Denise has spoken with horse racing historians, descendants of former owners, and even an author who is writing a non-fiction book chronicling Master Robert’s romantic, inspirational and thrilling tale.

The name of that author is Francis X Murray. Or Fran, for short.

In an act of half-coincidence, a few days after Denise called into the office, Fran wrote to the ’Herald, asking if we were aware of the upcoming anniversary.

From his (presumably) lavish lodgings on Wall Street, he wrote, “I am contacting you with the hope that you might consider recognising the centenary of Master Robert’s March 28, 1924 Grand National victory, through a piece to be published on March 28 (the actual centenary date).

“The Grand National is the most important steeplechase in the world, since 1839. I believe this horse has a story which reinforces the event’s great tradition, and will interest your Tyrone readers due to a local connection.”

Fran, who has been steeping himself in the history of this horse for the last decade, went on to offer us a distillation of his discoveries.

“After being bred by McKinnley in Castlefinn, Master Robert subsequently spent time in Strabane, Magherafelt and Moy, before being sent to England. The horse trained at The Curragh in its early years.”

It has also been suggested that Master Robert may have spent some time on land just outside Omagh.

According to both Fran and Denise, while in Strabane, Master Robert resided in fields owned by JT Elliott, in the area of the Urney Road and the County Donegal Railway tracks.

Fran writes, “One day, Master Robert jumped out of his pen, onto the tracks, in front of an oncoming train, stopping at the River Finn.”

Denise’s version, however, makes for a slightly more cinematic scene.

In her telling, the ‘spooked’ stallion did not only stray onto the tracks, but ran alongside the train until the steep banks of the Finn created a precipice he could not cross.

As he kept pace with the train, Denise told us, her face flush with relish as she approached the fanciful punchline, Master Robert’s racing potential was purportedly witnessed for the first time, by an awe-struck passenger who watched the astonishing spectacle unfold from his carriage window.

Whether or not Master Roberts really loped alongside the locomotive is up for debate. However, what seems more concrete is that, even if he did perform this miraculous feat, his life did not transform immediately as a result, as subsequent transfers records suggest he may well have returned to farm work soon after.

They say the world loves an underdog story, which makes it all the more difficult to understand how Master Robert has slipped through the cracks of history.

In the words of Fran, Master Robert represents ‘the consummate Grand National story’.

“My initial interest in Master Robert emanated from learning of my great granduncle’s ownership (Pat Murray) of the horse in Ireland, a chapter in his journey to a National Hunt career. As it turns out, Master Robert’s victory is an exceptionally interesting Grand National story given, among other things, the places and time period during which his journey took place, challenges along the way which made his Grand National participation and victory improbable, and his connections.

“(Master Robert’s win) occurred when horse racing reigned supreme in the sporting world – it featured an unlikely winner (with an unlikely winning jockey) and a high-profile field of horses, jockeys, trainers and owners. It (The Grand National) was very likely the highest-attended single-day sporting event in the world in 1924 (250,000 estimate, including King George V), and, according to British Pathe’, a world-record 45 cameramen filmed the event (representing a milestone in the evolution of live event filming). Master Robert’s was a record fourth (and final) Grand National victory for his trainer, Aubrey Hastings (third, if you exclude his War National win). His owner, Scotland’s Lord Airlie, was close to the Royal Family, and later served as Lord Chamberlain.”

No wonder the Weekly Dispatch, on March 30, 1924 , wrote, “Rarely has the romance of a horse taken hold on the general public so much as in the case of Master Robert…”

l If you would like to dig deeper into the story of this Donegal-born, Tyrone-trained champion, visit Fran’s website, ‘www.masterrobert.horse’.