From bread cart puller to Grand National winner - remembering Master Robert 100 years on

Most of them will never have heard of Master Robert which galloped to victory 100 years ago as a 25/1 outsider.

From pulling a bread cart around the streets of Magherafelt to winning the most famous steeplechase of them all caused huge excitement in the racing world at the time.

Master Robert’s centenary actually took place on March 28 - the date the national hunt race was held back in 1924.

Fran Murray, from Manhattan in New York City, with a background in sports and gaming, was captiviated by the story and his family’s connection with the horse.

So much so that he has carried out extensive research into the horse which plans to publish.

He said: “Until ten years ago, I possessed an insignificant knowledge of my Irish heritage. On my first trip to Ireland in 2013, through a series of serendipitous events, I met a third cousin of mine, previously unknown to me, during a visit to County Derry.

"After spending a pleasant few days with my newly-discovered relative - learning much about my paternal County Derry heritage - he asked me on my way out of his door: ‘Do you know the story of Master Robert?’ My cousin told me that Master Robert won the 1924 Grand National, which I knew to be the world’s most significant steeplechase competition.

"He explained to me that his uncle, Patrick Murray (my great grand uncle) owned the horse for a time before he won, and that he kept the horse at the local pub he owned which still exists. He told me I should stop by on my way out of town. Wow, I thought; that’s pretty cool. So I did indeed visit Paddy Murray’s old pub – now named Bryson's in Magherafelt.

“Arriving at the pub, I quickly found hanging on the wall inside was a 1999 Mid Ulster Mail newspaper article about Pat Murray’s ownership of Master Robert, the source of the story being Pat’s son, Joe (another third cousin of mine of which I had been unaware) who recounted the tale to you when he came ‘home’ on a visit from Canada – the country to which Murray and his family emigrated in 1929.”

Fran returned home to America and began researching the horse and its romantic journey to winning the Grand National. Readers can keep up to date by visiting www.masterrobert.horse

A headline from the Daily Racing Form, 1924, described the victory as ‘Master Robert has an exceptionally romantic history’, but to Fran it was the consummate Grand National story, reinforcing its great tradition of celebrating the achievement of a complete outsider’s win.

He added: "My initial interest in Master Robert emanated from learning of my great grand uncle's ownership of the horse in Ireland, a chapter in his journey to a National Hunt career. As it turns out, Master Robert's victory is an exceptionally interesting Grand National story given, among other things, the places and time period during which his journey took place, challenges along the way which made his Grand National participation and victory improbable, and his connections.”