Davies recalls ‘lucky’ Luscius as Aintree standout

Image via @AintreeRaces on X

Bob Davies partnered his most famous winner in the 1978 Grand National at Aintree and it was a day that started with news that three-time winner Red Rum was going to miss the great race.

Red Rum had won his third National a year previous but the legendary Ginger McCain inmate, by then almost 13 years of age, was withdrawn on the morning of the race having suffered a hairline fracture the day before as his chance to win a fourth renewal was aborted.

Davies, meanwhile, had picked up a spare ride on the Gordon Richards-trained Luscius, who would go off a 14/1 poke in the betting and eventually hold off his nearest pursuers, Sebastian V and Drumroan, by half a length and a neck to give Davies his greatest moment.

Towcester visit called off

Davies would years later tell the BBC in an interview that it was “one of the best spare rides in history” after he only sat on Luscious for the first time at Aintree.

“Dave Goulding should have ridden him for Gordon Richards, as he was his jockey, but he hurt his back at Wetherby on the Monday,” he said.

“I was at Wetherby on the Tuesday and one of the other jockeys Ron Barry said to me ‘Do you have a ride in the National?’

“I told him I was actually due to go to Towcester that day but he said ‘Well, Lucius is going spare. I’ll have a word with Gordon.'”

The rest, as they say, was to become history.

Mixed Aintree record for Welsh rider

Despite having three times been champion jockey, Davies only rode in the great race at Aintree seven times.

He was a three-time champion jockey over jumps in his career, in 1968/69, when he shared the title with Terry Biddlecombe before he defended his title, winning outright in 1969/70, and then did so again in 1971/72.

His eighth-place finish on Prophecy in 1973, the year of Red Rum’s first victory over Crisp, was one of just three occasions he managed to complete the 30-fence course.

A year after winning on Lucius, he nearly did it again, picking up another spare ride to finish a close second on Zongalero behind the winner Rubstic.

He also fell on Beecham in 1968, pulled up on The Vintner in 1980 and fell again at the sixth on Royal Mail in 1982, the year he retired.

Nothing lucky about Luscius

Though Red Rum was an 11th-hour absentee and Davies was fortunate in how he got on board Luscius, the retired and rider and racing pundit was always adamant that there was no fortune attached to his win on the day.

Having taken the lead following the fall of the much-fancied Tied Cottage under Tommy Carberry on the first circuit, Davies allowed Lucius to drop back behind the leaders as per instructions from his trainer.

Luscius finished strongly, holding off Sebastian V under Ridley Lamb as Drumroan under Gerry Newman rattled home fastest of all, but the 50/1 chance was unable to catch the front pair.

“I went back…to look at his form, which showed he was best over two and a half miles but that he had also won over three and didn’t like being in front. He’d got a live chance,” he said of his homework having picked up the spare ride.

“I was a bit lucky,” he told BBC Sport. “But only in the way I got the ride. Make no mistake about it, Lucius was a very good winner.”