Docklands link to trio of Aintree champions
EAST Wall, in Dublin’s docklands, played an important but forgotten role in the development of horses that won the Aintree Grand National.
While East Wall was known as the home of dockers’ families and local industry, it also had a successful role in horse-training and horse trading.
Within a decade of Ireland achieving independence, three horses trained on land in East Wall had gone on to win the English Grand National.
Now local historian Hugo McGuinness intends to raise public awareness of the docklands’ rich history in the horse trade.
Around a century ago, there was still a lot of open land in East Wall which was suitable for training horses, he said.
“A three-and-a-half-acre field in East Wall was known as Nugent’s Field. It was a matter of local pride that it was a place for developing successful horses,” he said.
A Hollywood movie, Sergeant Murphy, was made about the horse which won the Aintree Grand National in 1923 as a 100/6 outsider. It starred future US president Ronald Reagan.
Bred in Ireland in 1910 by GL Walker, Sergeant Murphy was trained in Nugent’s Field in East Wall before being sold to a wealthy American student, ‘Laddie’ Sandford, said the historian.
The American brought the horse to England, where he planned to use him as a hunter. But he was unable to handle him and the horse was placed with Newmarket trainer George Blackwell. The horse ran in several Grand Nationals at Aintree, starting in 1918.
Sergeant Murphy fell in the 1922 Grand National but still finished fourth. A year later, ridden by Captain GN Bennet, he became the first American-owned horse to win it. In the 1930s, the film Sergeant Murphy was released, although the story was significantly altered for the movie.
A painting of Sergeant Murphy by Sir William Orpen will be displayed at the Irish Horse exhibition at the National Gallery next month.
Sadly, Capt Bennet was fatally injured a few months later in a racing fall which directly led to riding helmets becoming compulsory.
The next Aintree winner to come through Nugent’s Field was Gregalach, bred by Michael Finlay, which won in 1929 as a 100/1 outsider.
Yet another Aintree winner to come through Nugent’s Field was Grakle in 1931. A difficult horse to handle, a special noseband was invented to control him in the shape of a figure-of-eight. To this day, these nosebands are known as grackles.
All three horses achieved their Aintree victories some years after their association with East Wall.
“The Nugents had little financial gain from the wins of Sergeant Murphy, Gregalach or Grakle, as their role was to bring the horses to a stage where they were competitive and would fetch a good price, with the honour and glory going elsewhere,” said Mr McGuinness.
James Nugent, from Co Armagh, had arrived in Dublin around the turn of the last century and followed in the footsteps of the Bollan and Shiels families in horse training and dealing in East Wall.
“The Nugents were the last in a line of East Wall horse breeders and dealers who supplied many of the armies of Europe, including Austrian, French and British cavalry regiments. They did so up to World War I,” he said.
They sold much of their remaining land in the 1930s. The Nugents lived in Seaview House, at the corner of Church Road and Seaview Avenue, until the 1950s.
The entrance to Nugent’s Yard still remains alongside Seaview House, which was recently refurbished.
Mr McGuinness continues to research the lore of horses in East Wall as part of ongoing tourism initiatives and would welcome contact at eastwallhistory@gmail.com.