“TO talk of drama is to speak of the very essence of the Grand National, but in the long and compelling history of this extraordinary race there have been few finishes to match the breathtaking late, late surge by the favourite Rough Quest on whom Mick Fitzgerald seized the most spectacular of victories.”
So wrote John Karter for The Sunday Times of the 7/1 shot trained by Downings man Terry Casey in 1996.
It was, as they say, a thriller and as the runners go to post this Saturday for the biggest steeple chase in the world, no doubt commentators will look back on the magic masterminded by the duo of Casey and Fitzgerald a quarter of a century ago.