DESCENDANTS of those involved with Grand National winner Forbra will meet up for the first time at Ludlow Racecourse on Thursday for the annual steeplechase commemorating the 1932 Aintree hero.
This year’s staging of the Forbra Gold Challenge Cup on February 28 is the race’s 65th instalment, making it a longer-running event than even the Whitbread and Hennessy Gold Cups.
Forbra, a 50-1 chance trained by Tom Rimell and partnered by Tim Hamey, carried the colours of Ludlow town councillor and bookmaker William Parsonage in beating Egremont by three lengths to net the £8,165 prize 87 years ago.
This week’s get-together has been organised by Hamey’s nephew, former Press Association and Raceform reporter Will Lefebve.
He will be joined at Ludlow by Paul Hamey – Tim’s eldest grandson – plus members of the Parsonage family, who paid for the magnificent gold trophy to be raced for in Forbra’s honour back in 1955.
Also present will be descendants of trainer Rimell, whose son Fred is in the National Hunt record books alongside Ginger McCain, the pair having each saddled four National winners.
A handful of jockeys and trainers to have tasted victory in the three-mile event will also be on hand to present the winning trophy alongside Simon Parsonage, great-grandson of
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