Owned by Juliet Reed and trained by David Elsworth, Rhyme ‘N’ Reason won the Irish Grand National at Fairyhouse as a six-year-old and emerged from a spell in the doldrums to become a leading contender for the 1988 Grand National. In 1987/88, he won four of his eight starts prior to the National, including the Racing Post Chase at Kempton in February and fell four from home, when still in contention, in the 1988 Cheltenham Gold Cup, won by Charter Party.
Ridden by regular jockey Brendan Powell Snr and saddled with 11st 0lb, Rhyme ‘N’ Reason was sent off 10/1 joint-second favourite for the Grand National, alongside Lean Ar Aghaidh, whom he had beaten at Kempton, and behind only 17/2 favourite Sacred Path. It would be fair to say that his task was made easier when Sacred Path fell at the very first fence, but he would still go on to win under remarkable circumstances.
At Becher’s Brook on the first circuit, Rhyme ‘N’ Reason blundered, went down on his haunches on the landing side and was all but out of the race. Powell did well to stay in the saddle and, although relegated to last place, gave his mount time to recover. After crossing the Melling Road towards the end of the first circuit Rhyme ‘N’ Reason made steady headway and, five fences from home, was left in the lead when Little Polveir blundered and unseated rider. At the penultimate fence, he was headed by Durham Edition, trained by Arthur Stephenson and ridden by Chris Grant, but rallied on the run-in to win by four lengths. Monanore finished third, a further 15 lengths behind and West Tip fourth, eight lengths further back.
The memorable victory for Rhyme ‘N’ Reason was not without cost. He was subsequently diagnosed with a fractured hock, more than likely sustained during his Becher’s Brook mishap. In any event, he underwent surgery on the injury the following day and never raced again. Indeed, he required further life-saving surgery to remove a chip of bone from his hock later in 1988, but recovered to enjoy what his owner described as a “muddy retirement” at her Woodhaven Stud, near Newbury, Berkshire.