1985 Grand National of the betting public put their faith in last year's champion Hallo Dandy at 14/1, Fethered Friend at 16/1, and Classified at 20/1 with Hill of Slain, Kumbi, Scot Lane, Broomy Bank, Rupertino, Tacroy and Talon considered the only others in the field capable of winning the race. Last Suspect was among those largely unconsidered at 50/1. In the company of Welsh jockey Hywel Davies he had developed a reputation as a stubborn horse and had pulled himself up in his last race. His owner, Anne, Duchess of Westminster, instantly decided to scratch her horse from the race, having never
Jim McLaughlin (jockey) winners were all for the Dwyer Brothers. McLaughlin's six Belmont wins still stands as the most for any jockey and is shared with Eddie Arcaro who won his sixth in 1955. McLaughlin won more races than any jockey in the United States four consecutive times from 1884 through 1887. He rode in his last races in 1892 after which he worked for a time as a trainer and as a racetrack official. Jim McLaughlin died in 1927 a few weeks short of his sixty-sixth birthday. On its formation in 1955, he was posthumously inducted in the National Museum of Racing