1985 Grand National 1985 Grand National The 1985 Grand National (known as the Seagram Grand National for sponsorship reasons) was the 139th renewal of the Grand National horse race that took place at Aintree Racecourse near Liverpool, England, on 30 March 1985. The race was won by eleven-year-old, 50/1 outsider, Last Suspect, ridden by Hywel Davies in a time of 9 minutes 42.7 seconds for a prize of £54,314. The winner was owned by Anne, Duchess of Westminster and trained by Captain Tim Forster in Letcombe Bassett, Oxfordshire. Aintree chose this year to honour all of the surviving winning jockeys in National history.
John Cutts (jockey) of Archer's where John did not ride him was once when Archer was ridden by Etienne de Mestre himself. Cutts last race for the de Mestre stable, and his last ride before retiring as a jockey, was on Archer who placed third in the three mile Seventh Champion Sweepstakes at Ballarat on 1 October 1863. In total Cutts rode 56 times for de Mestre, beginning on 1 January 1858 at Homebush when he won the Consolation Stakes on Greenmantle. From 1858 to 1863, whilst his growing family was living at Hartley and Goulburn, he was the principal jockey for de