The name of Thomas ‘Tommy’ Stack is, of course, immortalised in the annals of Aintree folklore by virtue of his history-making, 25-length win on the inimitable Red Rum in the 1977 Grand National. Less well remembered, perhaps, is the fact that he had ridden ‘Rummy’ numerous times in his early hurdling and steeplechasing career, when in the charge of Robert ‘Bobby’ Renton at Oxclose, near Ripon, North Yorkshire.
Born in Moyvane, Co. Kerry on November 15, 1945, Stack had joined Renton, as a 19-year-old, in 1965 and, on his retirement, briefly became both jockey and trainer at the yard. He subsequently became stable jockey to Arthur Stephenson at Leasingthorne, near Bishop Auckland, County Durham and became Champion National Hunt Jockey twice, in 1974/75 and 1976/77, with 82 and 97 winners, respectively.
At the time of his retirement from the saddle, at the relatively early age at 32, in May 1978, Stack had accrued at total of 602 winners. Aside from the Grand National, his career highlights included winning Schweppes Gold Trophy, now the Betfair Hurdle, on True Lad in 1977 and the Whitbread Gold Cup, now the Bet365 Gold Cup, on Strobolus in 1978.
