Red Rum Exhibition Open Now in Southport till October 2021

In the 1970’s you may have been young enough to appreciate long flares and summer festivals. But throughout this decade  a particular horse was excelling at his sport. 

 

Red Rum was a credible horse that achieved a hat trick of wins at The Grand National in 1973, 1974 and 1977. 

 

He was bought at the time with a debilitating bone disease and was restored to health under trainer Ginger McCain by the Southport seaside, where the sight of him racing across the sands "thrilled many a local resident", a spokesperson for The Atkinson said.

 

His rise to fame occurred at the same time that the Aintree racecourse was put up for sale in the 1970s.

 

Historian Reg Green once spoke of Red Rum’s ability to transform The Grand National, ‘putting it back where it belongs -at the summit of sporting achievement’.

 

By 1977 the horse became somewhat of a hero and somehow managed to turn on the Blackpool Illuminations. He also made an appearance in the studio for BBC Sports Personality of the Year.

 

Following the aftermath of his death in 1995, his remains were buried at the winning post at Aintree Racecourse. 

 

Now in 2021 an exhibition about Red Rum has opened in the town where he trained. A mural by the artist Paul Curtis, recognised for his street artwork The Liver Bird Wings, also features in The Atkinson gallery in Southport. 

 

Aintree Racecourse historian Jane Clarke expressed her gratitude in response to the exhibition, 

 

“I have been constantly warmed by the obvious affection Southport people in particular still have for this great horse. It celebrates one of its true local heroes”. 

 

The Red Rum exhibition runs at The Atkinson until October 2021. 

 

^ Alex Ashworth CCG Art Blogger