Fred Rimell

Thomas Frederic (Fred) Rimell (1913 - 13 July 1981) was a British champion National Hunt racing jockey and trainer. He was champion jockey three times and leading trainer five times. Rimell was the first jumping trainer to earn £1 million in prize money for his owners.

Rimell earned himself the title of “Mr Grand National”, training four winners of the spectacular steeplechase. They were ESB (1956), Nicolaus Silver (1961), Gay Trip (1970) and Rag Trade, who beat Red Rum in the 1976 running of the race.

1938/39, 1939/40, 1944/45 (shared), 1945/46

Fred Rimell was champion NH jockey 4 times (1938/9, 1939/40, 1944/5 and 1945/6). A suffered a broken neck in a fall on Coloured Schoolboy in the 1947 Cheltenham Gold Cup which ended his riding career. He was apprentice to his father Tom and rode his first flat winner, aged only 12 at Chepstow. Rimell went on to ride 33 flat winners before becoming a jumps jockey.

1950/51, 1960/61, 1968/69, 1969/70, 1975/76

Fred Rimell took out a trainer’s licence in 1945 and went on to dominate jumps racing becoming the first man to train 4 Grand National winners (ESB, Nicholas Silver, Gay Trip and Rag Trade). He also won a plethora of other top class chases, including, the Cheltenham Gold Cup on two occasions (Woodland Venture and Royal Frolic). Rimell also won a Whitbread Gold Cup with Andy Pandy (just weeks after he stumbled on landing at Bechers on the second circuit when well clear in the 1977 Grand National). Other notable successes were the Welsh Grand National (Fearless Fred and Rag Trade), the Scottish Grand National (The Fossa) The Mackeson Gold Cup in 4 successive years (Jupiter Boy, Gay Trip(twice) and Chatham).

Rimell was not only successful with chasers, he trained Comedy of Errors to win two Champion Hurdles. His other top hurdlers were Gaye Chance, Normandy and Coral Diver. His last major winner was Gaye Chance, ridden by Sam Morshead, who won the season's richest handicap hurdle, the Royal Doulton, at Haydock Park in May 1981. Gaye Chance was one of many talented offspring of Artistic Gaye to race for the Rimell family. Another half brother, Royal Gaye, won the same race in 1978 and Gaye Chance’s full brother, Gaye Brief was the 1983 Champion Hurdle winner.

Fred was champion trainer 5 times (1950/1, 1960/1, 1968/9, 1969/70 and 1975/6).

In the 1975/6 season he won both the Grand National and the Cheltenham Gold Cup with Rag Trade and Royal Frolic both ridden by his then stable jockey John Burke. In doing so, Rimell became the first trainer to perform the feat since Vincent O'Brien in 1953. That season he was the first jumps trainer to earn his patrons over £1m in prize money.

After he died in July 1981, his widow, Mercy (née Cockburn) assumed the training licence at Kinnersley, Worcestershire and continued to train top class winners. She won the 1983 Champion Hurdle with Gaye Brief. She retired in 1988/9.

His grandson, Mark Rimell continues trains at Leafield.