Becher’s Brook has the distinction of being the most famous fence in the most famous steeplechase in the world, the Grand National. Even if you have just a passing interest in horse racing, you’ve probably heard of the 4ft 10in fence, notorious for a steep drop on the landing side, which is jumped twice during the Grand National. However, you may not know much about Captain Martin William Becher, after whom the famous fence is named.
Born in Norwich in 1797, Becher served as a young man in the Storekeeper-General’s department of the Army and was stationed in Brussels during the Battle of Waterloo. On his return to Britain, he joined the Yeomanry and the courtesy title of ‘captain’ was conferred upon him by the Duke of Buckinghamshire.
Becher subsequently became a professional jockey and won the first steeplechase ever run in the vicinity of Liverpool, an ‘unofficial’ version of the Grand National known as the Liverpool Grand Steeplechase, on The Duke in 1836. However, it was not until three years later, during the running of what is generally considered the first ‘official’ Grand National (although the title wasn’t formally adopted until 1846), that Becher reserved his place in racing folklore.
In 1839, seventeen horses went to post for the race, supposedly over four miles but actually further, on a course consisting of ploughed fields, banks, ditches, streams and even a loose stone wall. At the sixth fence, a stiff post and rails, Becher’s mount, Conrad, refused, sending Becher flying over his head into the eight foot wide ditch beyond, where he remained until the rest of the field had passed. However, in a characteristic act of derring do, Becher remounted the 20/1 chance and set off in pursuit, only to part company again at the second stream, now known as Valentine’s Brook.
Captain Becher reportedly said afterwards that he had not known how ‘dreadful water tastes without whisky in it’. Nevertheless, his exploits caught the public imagination and, by 1840, the most famous steeplechase fence in the world was already known as ‘Becher’s Brook’. The brook itself was filled in 1990 but, despite repeated calls by animal rights’ groups for its removal, along with Valentine’s Brook, The Chair and Canal Turn, the signature fence in the Grand National will hopefully continue to provide a thrilling spectacle for as long as the race itself exists.
Captain Becher rode for another eleven years after his Aintree ‘adventure’ and eventually died in 1864, at the age of 67, after a short illness.
