Road to the National

In the 1994 Grand National on 9th April, 51-year-old Rosemary Henderson, on her horse Fiddlers Pike, came in fifth, becoming only the second woman to complete the course in the race's 154-year history. In doing so she not only captured the hearts and imagination of millions, but forced a whole bunch of smug sports commentators and journalists, who had predicted that the "galloping granny" (N.B. Rosemary has no children, let alone grandchildren) would take a tumble, to eat their words and wipe large amounts of egg off their faces. This is Rosemary's story, from her Gloucestershire childhood, when she rode ponies as a hobby, to her taking up point-to-point at the age of 30, to her life now in Devon as a horse-owner and trainer (and part-time secretary to her husband, an equine vet) and her continuing success as an amateur jockey.