The Grand National ... according to Pete

ONCE poisoned by oil and acid – the legacy of a former life as a scrapyard – the small bumpy piece of grass hardly seems like it was the home of a possible Grand National hero.

Situated by the side of an MOT garage, and with a small hut that doubles as a makeshift paper shop opposite, these were humble beginnings for According To Pete – the 11-year-old who goes for glory at Aintree in the world’s greatest steeplechase on April 14.

Owner Peter Nelson believes in fairytales.

He’s seen them come to life before, when Red Rum won the National in 1973 after Ginger McCain kept his legendary stayer in stables behind his used-car garage in Southport and trained him on the beach at the nearby sands.

And in According To Pete, so named by Nelson’s wife, Anne, in honour of the Helperby resident who casts himself as the village “know-it-all”, he spends his nights dreaming that his horse can do the impossible.

“I lie in bed at night just thinking of the National,” the 71-year-old says, brimming with pride. “I have actually dreamed he won it, as daft as it sounds, and then I wake up and think ‘you silly bugger’. But these occasions don’t come along often in a lifetime.

“I might not get the chance of this again. I want to enjoy it while I have got it.”

“Pete” grew up in the paddock round the back of Nelson’s Oak House, on Main Street, in Helperby. He bought the old Tudor property in 1975, mainly because it offered an acre of land, and the renovations weren’t just confined to the house.

“When I first bought it this was just a wilderness. I put 1,000 tonnes of soil down because nothing would grow and it was where he spent his first year with his mother.”

As a yearling, the gelding loved to jump – “We had rails across the paddock and he hiked over the fence. He could jump his way out of anything” – and has never stood still since. In a career which has brought 11 victories, and five in chases, the biggest win could be yet to come in Liverpool.

Nelson has lived in the village all his life – “There are four generations of us in the churchyard. I love Helperby” – and runs both the garage and delivers the newspapers.

It’s a close-knit community and it has rallied together around the horse.

“Everybody follows According To Pete,” he explains. “People are giving me money now to put on for the National. I had the local vicar in for an MOT test and she said ‘I want to back your horse in the Grand National. I’ll give you £10 – £5 each-way’. I thought ‘Bloody hell, that’s another one I have to put down’.

“I could get a bus load to Aintree.”

Nelson has always adored horses. His father used to work with them and, as a young man leaning on the rails at Wetherby on Boxing Day, he told himself that one day he would own a thoroughbred.

“But I didn’t really think I ever would,” he admits. “I come from very humble beginnings. I didn’t think I’d have a car when I was young. Every penny I earned in those days my mother got. I remember Merryman (the last North Yorkshire-trained horse to win the National in 1960). I would have been about 19. I’m hoping Pete is the next. It would be tremendous.

“I have always been a jumps man and I have never been that keen on the Flat. You lose your money too quick in five, six and seven furlongs. You get a run for your money with a horse going two, two-and-a-half and three miles. You have something to shout about at the finish.”

If According To Pete is a dream for Nelson, it’s almost fantasy for young rider Harry Haynes – who has reinvograted his career with the horse this season – and Norton-based trainer Malcolm Jefferson.

The latter waited more than a quarter of a century for his first runner in the National, but Brooklyn Brownie got no further than the second fence in 2009.

King Fontaine, his representative last year, finished the marathon four-and-a-half mile course in 11th.

“I met Malcolm by pure chance,” says Nelson of his association with the handler. “A friend who was staying with us was going up to his yard and asked if we wanted a ride. We had Magic Bloom, who is According To Pete’s dam, and went up and he introduced me to Malcolm and we were talking about her.

“He came and had a look and said she would make a fair chaser. I asked if he fancied training her and he came with the wagon, he took her, and that’s how we started. We have been with Malcolm since 1993. He got us into breeding.”

With According To Pete, Jefferson has been at his finest. The horse won his bumper, four hurdle races and would reel off a treble of chases in the winter of 2008. Then the handicapper took a grip and, despite consistent showings, the front runner couldn’t get his head over the line.

That was until the Rowland Meyrick Chase at Wetherby last Boxing Day, when he beat Helpston by a length in a 33-1 shock before following up the next month with the Peter Marsh Chase at Haydock.

“We were surprised,” says Nelson with some understatement. “We didn’t know what to expect when he won the Rowland Meyrick. He had run at Haydock before that and he was hampered with another horse.

He didn’t look himself. He’s always bubbly, always going round the parade ring, and I don’t know what was wrong with him.

“When we went Wetherby, I only had a tenner each-way on him. I’m not a gambling man but I picked £250 up. I think people thought it was a fluke. He finished up at 9-1 next for the Peter Marsh and, there again, I only had a tenner each-way on him.

“But he looked absolutely fantastic in the parade ring and he won it well. He loves to be in front and he loves to do what he wants to. Harry gets on with him so well.

“Coming to the last at Haydock, his lugs were still pricked. He looked as if he is enjoying himself. Harry lets him go and that’s what he likes. In the National, if you are in the middle of the bunch and something falls in front of you as you are going over a fence – you don’t know what’s there. There could be a horse on the floor.

“If he gets in front, at the first fence, I think he has a good chance.”

‘Pete’ is part of the Nelson family now. When his racing career is over, his future will be back in Helperby – once more in the paddock where he bucked and kicked as a youngster. But, for now, it’s thoughts of Liverpool that keep his owner dreaming.

“He will not shirk,” Nelson says of his horse’s chances. “My main worry is him getting round safe and sound. He hasn’t been over those fences before. It’s a great atmosphere. When they set off, everybody is on a high when they lift the tapes up.

“It is a fairytale. I’m going to Aintree hoping that he does well and that he comes home safe. But to win it, like Jodami when he won the Gold Cup and Peter Beaumont paraded him, I will take him to the open gardens at Helperby. Wouldn’t it be great?

“If he wins the National I shall be a very, very happy man. It would be a dream. It would be something you can’t believe.”