Owned by Belinda McClung and Deborah Thomson – collectively known, for racing purposes, as ‘Two Golf Widows’ – and trained by Lucinda Russell in Arlay, Perth and Kinross, in eastern Scotland, One For Arthur had the distinction of being just the second horse trained north of the border, after Rubstic in 1979, to win the Grand National. Fresh from victory in the Classic Chase, over three miles and five furlongs, at Warwick in January 2017, the eight-year-old was sent off at 14/1 in the National but, in the words of his trainer, “breezed through to win a fantastic race.”
Ridden by Derek Fox, One For Arthur travelled and jumped well throughout and, despite jumping left over the last two fences, stayed on strongly in the closing stages to beat Glenfarclas Chase winner Cause Of Causes by 4½ lengths. Sadly, following that dominant performance, he suffered a tendon injury that kept him off the course for a year and eight months and he was never quite the same horse again. On his return to action, he unseated rider on his first two starts of the 2018/19 season, prior to finishing sixth, beaten 25½ lengths, behind Tiger Roll in the 2019 Grand National.
Having failed to trouble the judge in three starts in 2019/20 – and having been found to have a fibrillating heart when pulled up in the Grand National Trial at Haydock Park – One For Arthur was finally retired from racing in November 2020 at the age of 11. A winning pointer as a four-year-old, he won seven of his 27 races under Rules for Lucinda Russell, including four of his 18 steeplechases, and amassed nearly £675,000 in prize money. He died from colic in March 2023 at the age of 14. Paying tribute to her former charge, Russell said, “He was the springboard for our yard. He was a phenomenal athlete and it was fantastic to be involved with a horse who had such talent.”