Horse Racing Legend Gerry Scott attended a Charity Race Night at Fearby near Masham, North Yorkshire, to help residents raise money for the Village Hall, an important centre for the local community.

Gerry Scott is well known in horse racing circles as the only man to have ridden the winner of the Grand National and also to have started the race. He rode Merryman IInd to victory in 1960, which was the first time the race had been televised. Thirty years later, he was the official Starter at Aintree for the 1996 Grand National.

It was a great pleasure to meet Gerry and to hear about his experiences in horse racing. I was interested to learn that he started the Princess Royal at “Redcar Races” where she won her first flat race. This was of particular interest to me as I was born in Redcar. He also carried the banner for the Jockey Club round Horse Guards Parade during the cellarbrations held for the Queen Mother’s 80th birthday. The picture below shows Gerry presenting the prize for the “Best Dressed Lady” which was a bouqet of flowers and a bottle of champagne.

The Race Night was great fun and brought in much needed cash which will be used to maintain the village hall. Everyone had a great time and the organisers are confident even more folk will attend next time.

Gerry Scott presented the prize for the best dressed lady.

If you are interested in booking a race night to raise funds for your organisation then please follow this link through to the Race Night secion of our web site.

Have you ever backed the winning horse in the National? What’s the most you’ve ever won on a horse?

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