1986 Grand National was again heavily supported at 15/2 with many of his supporters feeling that he had been unlucky when falling at Becher's Brook while disputing the lead last year. His jockey on that occasion, Richard Dunwoody was released from his retainer on "Port Askaig" to take the mount on the second favourite. Four months before the National, West Tip had been defeated by the impressive chaser, "Door Latch", considered by the racing press as owner, Jim Joel's best chance of winning the race in his almost thirty years of trying. Richard Rowe took the mount on the 9/1 chance trained by
Jockey Jockey A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing. The word is by origin a diminutive of "jock", the Northern English or Scots colloquial equivalent of the first name "John", which is also used generically for "boy" or "fellow" (compare "Jack", "Dick"), at least since 1529. A familiar instance of the use of the word as a name is in "Jockey of Norfolk" in Shakespeare's "Richard III". v. 3, 304. In the 16th and 17th centuries the word was applied to