andy turnell: an artist in the saddle.

​Only yesterday (honest truth) I watched again the 1974 Aintree Grand National and though the fascination was to witness again Red Rum achieve the glory of a second Grand National success, for most of the race, certainly the first half, my eye was drawn to Charles Dickens, ridden by Andy Turnell, who has died aged 73.
For those not acquainted with Andy Turnell the jockey, I suggest you Google search Birds Nest and Beacon Light, two horses who locked horns with some of the greatest hurdlers of their or any generation. He rode with short stirrup leathers. Really short. Shorter than many flat jockeys. And he was responsible for lesser jockeys copying his unique style, and worse, far too many stable lads. The copyists failed to grasp that Turnell’s style of riding was not of his choosing but was the result of a back injury that prevented him riding in comfort in the traditional style of his contemporaries.
Perhaps he was fortunate to ride for his father, Bob, a leading trainer in the sixties, otherwise his short stirrups would not have been acceptable and he may not have received the opportunities he did to display his talent in the saddle. And make no mistake, Turnell was a master jockey and by all accounts as brave as a lion long into his retirement.
To see him lead the Grand National field virtually from flag fall, or at least be up in the van, as they say, thundering to the first ditch, his position on the horse so reminiscent of Lester Piggott, any first-time observer of the man would be of the opinion that he was either mad or out to prove a point. He was neither, of course. Charles Dickens jumped with imperious ease and though unable to go with Red Rum and L’Escargot in the closing stages, and what esteemed company to be involved with, the horse, the breast-girth slipping so far back he could hardly breathe, plugged on to be third.
Of course, in 1987, Andy Turnell trained Mauri Venture to win the Grand National, ridden by the man who for many years was second-jockey to Andy at Bob Turnell’s, Steve Knight. In fact, Turnell also trained the 6th-placed Tracey’s Special. Few, including both the trainer and owner, Jim Joel, thought Mauri Venture had little chance of even getting as far as the first ditch and only ran in the race on the insistence of Knight, possibly the only man to have any faith in the ability of the horse. 
22 finished that year out of 40 starters. 23 finished in 1984 and 17 in 1986.
Too many people believe the Grand National to be a war of attrition, with the 30-fences obstacles designed to trip horses up. It is my opinion that the number of finishers is more dependent on ground conditions than any other consideration. Also, back in the 70’s and 80’, and in most years of its history, there was a better class of horse running than latterly and it was only in the period after Red Rum and into the present century that, as greater prize-money became available throughout the season, the quality of the race dipped to the point where very few of the runners had an obvious chance of winning.
The need to modify the course and shorten the distance was a direct result of the calibre of runners far more than it was the severity of the fences to be jumped. If you watch old runnings of the race, albeit there were hard-to-watch falls, in the main, even when the fences were ram-rod straight, horses jumped particularly well. Because of the configuration of the course and the number of runners, the race lends itself to accidents, which it still does to an extent. And so many horses come-to-life round those unique fences, as Mauri Venture’s unlikely win proved, with every decade having its share of ‘Aintree horses’.
Andy Turnell in eight attempts as a jockey only fell once and that was on his last try and Man Alive never distinguished himself at Aintree. Turnell twice pulled-up, was twice brought-down, suffered one refusal, finished eighth on Spitting Image and was an unlucky (in some respects) third on Charles Dickens. 
I do recall Tommy Carmody riding ultra-short, even when he was stable jockey to the Dickensons, though he was short of stature, whereas Andy Turnell was Piggott-esque. So, I can say with confidence that it is highly unlikely we will ever see the like of Andy Turnell again, not in the jump jockey ranks.