Grand National: How Red Rum saved the world's greatest race after costly error

Fifty years on and Richard Pitman is again reliving the most agonising and dramatic 494 yards in sporting history.

His horse Crisp, a 10-year-old ­carrying 12st, jumped the last fence of the 1973 Grand National clear of Red Rum, an eight-year-old with 23lb less on his back. Pitman talks about the sound of the challenger’s hooves growing louder and him making “a terrible error” on a run-in that is just shy of 500 yards.

The hugely popular jockey, who went on to ­become a much-respected broadcaster with the BBC, says he has had to live with his “mistake” for the rest of his life. Watch the race back and it is clear ­Pitman is being extremely harsh on ­himself.

But the significance of that final ­quarter of a mile can never be overstated – Red Rum was not only galloping past a desperately tired Crisp, who had run himself almost to a standstill, he was beginning the journey into the consciousness of the wider public.