It has often been said that there is almost always a story, sometimes even a fairy story, behind the winner Grand National and, true to form, in 1987, the story was all about Maori Venture and his nongenarian owner, Harry Joel Joel, generally known as ‘Jim’.
Trained in East Hendred near Wantage, Oxfordshire by Andrew Turnell, Maori Venture was a useful performer on his day, as he had demonstrated by winning the valuable Mandarin Chase at Newbury three years previously. However, by the time he lined up at Aintree on April 4, 1987, he was an 11-year-old with a reputation as less-than-fluent jumper. The prevailing ‘good’ going was also thought to be faster than ideal and, consequently, he was sent off at 28/1.
The official racecard of the day nonetheless warned punters that Maori Venture ‘could prove to be a lively outsider’ and, under stable jockey Steven Knight, he did just that. Jumping the final fence, Maori Venture was one of just of three serious challengers, the others being the long-time leader Lean Ar Aghaigh, ridden by 20-year-old Guy Landau, and The Tsarevitch, ridden by John White. From the ‘Elbow’, halfway up the run-in, the trio fought a titanic battle but, well inside the final furlong, Maori Venture took up the running and, surprisingly, sprinted clear to win by five lengths.
Unfortunately, having waited three decades to see his cherished racing colours – black, scarlet cap – carried to victory in the Grand National, Joel, 92, was on holiday in Cape Town, South Africa when Maori Venture passed the post. He did, however, fly back to Britain to greet his returning hero the following. He also announced his intention to bequeath the retiring Maori Venture to Knight in his will.
Described by the ‘Glasgow Herald’ as ‘one of the last of England’s greatest owner-breeders’, Joel inherited the Chiswick Bury Stud, near St. Albans, Hertfordshire, on the death of his father, Isaac ‘Jack’ Joel, in 1940. He famously won the 2,000 Guineas and the Derby with Royal Palace in 1967, before selling the property to the Spanish noblewoman, the Marquesa de Moratalla, in 1978. Joel died on March 23, 1992, aged 97.