THE East Lothian co-owner of the Grand National winner has described watching One For Arthur become the first Scottish winner of the prestigious race in almost 40 years as “an amazing feeling”.
The eight-year-old, who is co-owned by Gullane’s Debs Thomson, stormed to victory in the world’s most famous steeplechase on Saturday, watched by a TV audience of more than 10 million people.
One For Arthur, whose 14-1 win resulted in the owners sharing the first prize of £560,000, has now become a celebrity across the globe, with friends and members of the public getting in touch with Debs to offer their congratulations.
And East Lothian residents will get the chance to see the horse on Saturday when he is paraded at Musselburgh Racecourse.
Debs, who lives on the village’s Nisbet Road with her partner Colin Dempster, told the Courier: “It has just been amazing.
“It is difficult because I have not been able to reply to all the messages yet but I will eventually.
“I feel very guilty and I had to put a general thank you to everybody for their love and support on Facebook. It is finding the time to go through all the messages on Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp – I just cannot believe it.
“It’s so surreal.”
Debs, 46, bought One For Arthur alongside Belinda McClung, under the tongue-in-cheek name of Two Golf Widows, due to their partners’ fondness for golf, with Colin playing at Gullane Golf Club.
Debs said: “We’ve known each other since we were quite wee.
“We were at school together and pony club together but in our early 20s we lost contact. We then got back together and met up through racing itself and through Lucinda’s [Russell, trainer] yard. I had horses there and so did Belinda and we got to meet up again.”
Animal lover Debs, who has four black Labradors – Bolinger, Krug, Dom and Louis – and stakes in four other horses – Big River, Alizee De Janeiro, Pulpitarian and Templenaboe – was at Aintree to see the 14-1 shot, ridden by Derek Fox and trained by Kinross-based Russell, whose partner and assistant is former champion Peter Scudamore, cross the line as the winner.
She said: “It was just a great feeling. He was at the back quite a bit and people thought he had fallen.
“He was only mentioned at the second last and he was going so well we were confident he was going to win it. Coming down the home straight, we thought we had got a definite chance.
“When he crossed the Melling Road, the trainer said we had got a Grand National winner but I was not quite as confident.
“The way he jumps is like a stag and he just knocked them off one by one.
"We were just screaming when he came over the last fence till he crossed the line, it was an amazing feeling and has not sunk in.
"It was an amazing feeling and it was a dream getting him to the Grand National.”
Debs was not the only county connection in the world-famous race, which was broadcast on ITV for the first time.
Jamie Duff, the travel manager for the stable, paid tribute to Haddington jockey Campbell Gillies, who died when he was just 21 in a swimming pool accident in 2012.
Duff was wearing the former Knox Academy pupil’s lucky socks on the day.
Meanwhile, congratulations have also come in from far and wide.
Jeremy Findlay, chairman of Gullane Area Community Council, felt anything that raised the profile of the village had to be welcomed.
He said: “When I see her, I will be congratulating her both on my behalf and for lots of other people in the village who had a bet on.”
Musselburgh Racecourse chief executive Bill Farnsworth hailed the victory as a tremendous boost for the East Lothian track and Scotland’s other four racecourses.
He said: “While half of Scotland appears to have backed One For Arthur and was celebrating wildly on Saturday, some of the loudest cheers were coming from Musselburgh. Lucinda Russell and her partner Peter Scudamore are regulars at Musselburgh throughout the season and her team at Milnathort have done themselves and Scotland proud.
“We are not shy in banging the drum for trainers and stables on our own doorstep and this result reinforces our belief that there is no shortage of quality north of the Border and our trainers can compete with the best in the UK.
“We are delighted One For Arthur will be paraded at our opening flat meeting on Saturday and it adds to the excitement of what should be a cracking meeting.”
Politicians from across the county also congratulated everyone involved in the winning effort.
East Lothian MP George Kerevan, who is chairman of the Friends of Scottish Racing, said: “I look forward to meeting Debs, either in Gullane or perhaps more formally in Parliament.
“This is an occasion to celebrate, and is already breathing new life into racing in Scotland.”
South of Scotland MSP Rachael Hamilton tabled a motion congratulating Mrs Thomson and the rest of the team at the Scottish Parliament.
She added: “This is a fantastic achievement. This really shows the high calibre of Scottish horse racing – and cements its place as world-class. Well done to all involved in seeing this fantastic success realised – let’s hope for more Scottish winners in the future.”
Finally, Iain Gray, East Lothian MSP, also offered his congratulations. He said: “What a great result for Scottish horse racing and for East Lothian. Well done to all involved with One For Arthur – and everyone who backed him!”
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