The 1922 Grand National was the 81st renewal of the Grand National horse race that took place at Aintree Racecourse near Liverpool, England, on 24 March 1922.
After two false starts, the race was won by Music Hall at odds of 100/9. The nine-year-old was ridden by Lewis Rees and trained by Owen Anthony, for owner Hugh Kershaw, who collected the winner's prize of £5,000. The winning jockey's brother, Dick Rees, had won the race the previous year on Shaun Spadah.
Drifter finished in second place and Taffytus in third. Sergeant Murphy and A Double Escape were remounted after falling and finished fourth and fifth respectively. There were only five finishers from the field of thirty-two horses. Most did not complete the first circuit, with many having been obstructed by Sergeant Murphy in an incident at the Canal Turn.
After a second consecutive year with a small number of finishers, following the 1921 race when only four horses completed the course, The Manchester Guardian wrote that "it is often not a case of the survival of the fittest but of the survival of the luckiest", while Robin Goodfellow in the Daily Mail described it as "a fit subject for the Chamber of Horrors". The favourite, Southampton, and Shaun Spadah both fell at the first fence, and there were two equine fatalities: The Inca II at Becher's Brook and Awbeg at the Canal Turn.
Finishing Order PositionNameJockeyAgeHandicap (st-lb)SPDistance1Music HallLewis Rees911-812 lengths2DrifterWilliam Watkinson810-06 lengths3TaffytusTed Leader911-0A Distance4Sergeant MurphyCharles Hawkins1211-05A Double EscapeTuppy Bennet810-3
Non-finishers FenceNameJockeyAgeHandicap (st-lb)SPFate01Shaun SpadahDick Rees1112-301SouthamptonHarry Brown611-10 F04VaulxTony Escott810-0Fell05Clashing ArmsJack Anthony711-3Fell06Grey Dawn VAlf Newey910-006The Inca IIFred Brookes810-0Fell06WavertreeBryan Bletsoe1111-10Fell08All WhiteBob Chadwick811-0Brought Down08AwbegMr A Knowles1110-0Fell08General SaxhamMr P Dennis910-908NortonIsaac Morgan711-8Fell?ClonreeJ Mahoney811-6?St BernardMr R Pulford811-5?The Turk IIIvor Anthony1210-11?Super ManRoger Burford710-9?Gay LochinvarF Croney610-8?DunadryJames Hogan jnr910-7?Any TimeGilbert Wall1110-5?Square UpJ Rennison910-4?Mask-OnJ Burns910-2?Arabian KnightR Spares610-2?Sudan IIG Calder1310-0?MasterfulMr M Blair910-0?DunstanburghH Watkins1010-0?ConfessorRobert Trudgill810-0?Such A SportCaptain A C Delmege1110-022ArravalePercy Whitaker710-10
The Grand National 1839-1930 by David Hoadley Munroe
References