Last Suspect (foaled 1975) was a British-bred Thoroughbred racehorse who competed in National Hunt racing.

In 1985 he won the Grand National despite being a 50/1 outsider.

Background

Last Suspect was bred by the Countess of Mount Charles, and the brown gelding came from a good breeding background - his sire, Above Suspicion, had been a regular winner on the Flat and his dam, Last Link, had won the Irish Grand National.

Despite this though Last Suspect was said to be "moody, unreliable, disinterested" and developed a reputation for being stubborn.^[2]

Racing career

During the race at Warwick prior to the 1985 Grand National, the 11-year-old gelding showed his stubbornness as he pulled himself up. Forster and the Duchess of Westminster only ran him in the National at the insistence of his jockey Hywel Davies who was convinced Aintree would suit the horse whose jumping and stamina were very good. It proved to be the correct decision as Last Suspect won by 11⁄2 lengths in front of Mr Snugfit and the 1983 Grand National winner Corbiere coming in third.

Last Suspect was retired following his National victory, but the Duchess of Westminster decided to bring him out of retirement after seeing that he wasn't flagging and this was proven correct when he won two marathon races in the run up to the 1986 Grand National. However, he was now twelve years old, with eleven more pounds to carry compared to Mr Snugfit who only had an extra seven and was the 13-2 favourite. He had a poor race and was always well to the rear before being pulled up at the eighteenth fence after which he was retired for the final time.^[2]

Grand National record

Pedigree

References