Lorna’s horse has chance in National

April 1982

Sometime before 3 p.m. on Saturday next, elevenyear-old Lorna Fortune will go into a horsebox on the famous Aintree racecourse and have a few words with her horse, Old Society.

If the little talk has the desired effect, Lorna may soon afterwards be leading Old Society into the winner’s enclosure after the Grand National.

Lorna is surely the youngest owner of a runner in the world’s most famous horse race. A daughter of Denis Fortune, Slaney Hill Park, Wexford, she and her father will fly to Liverpool on Saturday morning for the big race.

It would be a fairytale come true for young Lorna if Old Society happened to win the Grand National and the £60,000 first prize. And yet it’s not altogether unlikely.

‘The trainer, Michael O’Brien, has high hopes for the race,’ says Denis Fortune, who bought the horse three years ago. ‘He has already won nine races, including the Cunningham Cup at Punchestown, and is progressing nicely.’

Old Society, an eight-year-old, was at odds of 25/1 this week and is one of the more fancied Irish runners in the National.

And what do her school friends at the Mercy Convent, St. John’s Road, think of all the excitement over the race? ‘They would love to be going with me!’ says Lorna, who has never been to England before.

Lorna is very keen on horses. She also has her own pony. And when Old Society is at home in Slaney Hill during the summer months, Lorna feeds him first thing every morning.

And what about the future? ‘I would like to be a jockey. And ride the winner of the Grand National!’ she says. And why not, like National Velvet in the well-known film of the same name.

But first she wants to own the winner. She will let Peter Walsh do the riding on Saturday. And if he triumphs, Lorna will be there to lead in Old Society, to the cheers of everyone.

Footnote: Old Society ended up going off at 33/1, but unfortunately fell at the 11th fence.

The Grand National that year remains notable for two reasons.

The first is that the winner (7/1 favourite, Grittar) was ridden by 48-year-old amateur Dick Saunders, who remains the oldest ever winner of the race.

The second is that Mrs Geraldine Rees became the first ever female jockey to complete the course, as she brought 66/1 shot ‘Cheers’ round to finish as the last of the eight finishers that year.