Sport: And Then There Were Seven

The bettors choice was Freebooter, a coffee-colored gelding and half-brother of an Irish plow horse. But the sentimental favorite of thousands of British housewives was Princess Elizabeth's Monaveen. Last week, in Aintree's bright spring sunshine, Britain's royal family peered down from the roof of the clubhouse as anxiously as any two-shilling bettor as the 49 starters crowded to the post.

Up until the 14th jump, it looked as if Monaveen might be the first royal horse to win since the Prince of Wales's (later King Edward VII) Ambush II in 1900. At the first barrier, six horses had gone down in a thundering crash, and Monaveen was up with the leaders. One more went down at the second, four more at the dreaded Becher's Brook. Monaveen stayed in the lead. Then his foreleg nicked the 14th fence. On the second time around the grueling 4½-mile course, Monaveen stumbled again.

That was all it took. Heading into the final jumps, only 14 riders had survived the thick, thorny hedges and treacherous water jumps. In the lead was Cloncarrig, a rangy, brown, 33-to-1 shot. When Cloncarrig crashed into the next-to-last barrier, Freebooter pounded on to win by 15 lengths. Fifth of the only seven to finish officially was Monaveen.

Freebooter's victory made Owner Lurline Brotherton, widow of a Leeds chemical manufacturer, the "happiest woman in Britain." The British bettors were happy too: Freebooter, at 10 to 1, was the first favorite to win the race since 1927.