Rubio
Encyclopedia
Rubio was an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 thoroughbred
Thoroughbred
The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word thoroughbred is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed...

 racehorse best remembered as the winner of the 1908 Grand National
Grand National
The Grand National is a world-famous National Hunt horse race which is held annually at Aintree Racecourse, near Liverpool, England. It is a handicap chase run over a distance of four miles and 856 yards , with horses jumping thirty fences over two circuits of Aintree's National Course...

 steeplechase
Steeplechase
Steeplechase may refer to:* Steeplechase, an event in horse racing* SteepleChase, a Danish jazz label* Steeplechase , a 1975 arcade game released by Atari...

 run at Aintree
Aintree
Aintree is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside. It lies between Walton and Maghull on the A59 road, about north of Liverpool city centre, in North West England....

, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

.

The horse was bred in Rancho del Paso stud in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

 in 1898 by La Toquera and Star Ruby from the damsire Sir Mordred by breeder, James Ben Ali Haggin and was sent to the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 as a yearling, having been purchased for 15 guineas
Guinea (British coin)
The guinea is a coin that was minted in the Kingdom of England and later in the Kingdom of Great Britain and the United Kingdom between 1663 and 1813...

.

As a five year old the horse had broken down so badly that he was put to pulling a trolley bus in Towcester
Towcester
Towcester , the Roman town of Lactodorum, is a small town in south Northamptonshire, England.-Etymology:Towcester comes from the Old English Tófe-ceaster. Tófe refers to the River Tove; Bosworth and Toller compare it to the "Scandinavian proper names" Tófi and Tófa...

 to regain the strength in his legs. The regime worked and after two years the horse was put back into training.

At the 1908 Grand National the horse was relatively unconsidered and wassent off at 66/1, ridden by Henry Bletsoe, the son of the horse's former trainer Bernard Bletsoe, going on to defeat his better fancied stable companion Mattie McGregor by 10 lengths for trainer Frederick Withington.

Defence

Rubio returned in 1909, falling at the water jump. When he returned to the stables he was found to have again broken down and was promptly retired from racing.
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