Down the years, Fred Rimmell, Donald ‘Ginger’ McCain and, more recently, Trevor Hemmings have all been nicknamed ‘Mr. Grand National’. In August, 2020, Hemmings announced his decision to reduce the number of horses he had in training, citing the impact of Covid-19 on his personal and business interests. Nevertheless, Hemmings, 85, has already seen his iconic emerald green and yellow quartered colours carried to victory in the Grand National three times, making him, jointly, the most successful owner in the history of the world famous steeplechase.

So far, the octagenarian owner has won the Grand National with Hedgehunter in 2005, Ballabriggs in 2011 and Many Clouds in 2015. Of course, Ballabriggs was trained by Donald McCain Jnr., son of the erstwhile ‘Mr. Grand National’, whom Hemmings had known for years. Hemmings said of McCain Snr., ‘I got on well with Ginger, but he and I would have clashed because he said things he didn’t really mean and he could be bloody-minded.’

Despite a dispersal sale of 56 horses in September, 2020, Hemmings has, by no means, given up on his ambition of owning a record-breaking fourth Grand National winner. In a rare interview in November, 2020, he said, confidently, ‘I will get a fourth [Grand National]; there is no doubt about that.’ He went on to identify Deise Aba and Cloth Cap, fifth and eighth, respectively, in the Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup at the 2020 Cheltenham Festival, as the two of his horses with the most potential in that respect.