It was September 1988 and Red Rum was brought down to Rayleigh to open the new betting shop, H and K Bookmakers.
Big fans – Red Rum was a national celebrity at this point (Image: Peter Everingham for Rayleigh Town Museum)
The Irish champion thoroughbred steeplechaser achieved an unmatched historic treble when he won the Grand National in 1973, 1974 and 1977, and also came second in the two intervening years, 1975 and 1976.
Red Rum was regarded by many as the best racehorse of all time and so his appearance caused a buzz in Rayleigh.
Arresting sight – A policeman makes the most of the chance to meet the world’s most famous race horse (Image: Peter Everingham for Rayleigh Town Museum) Adored – The champion racehorse is petted by fans (Image: Peter Everingham for Rayleigh Town Museum)
These photos show how hundreds of people turned out in London Road for the chance to meet and stoke Red Rum, who was accompanied by his owner.
Eddie Kirtland managing director of H and K said: “This is the fourth time we have used Red Rum to open shops. He goes down much better than if we had asked Terry Wogan to do it.”
Lovely to meet you – A woman enjoys some attention from Red Rum (Image: Peter Everingham for Rayleigh Town Museum)
The day before his appearance in Rayleigh, Red Rum had done the same thing in Dunmow, when he opened the H and K betting shop there. By this time in his career Red Rum was a national celebrity, being led out at events all over the world.
Beauty- Red Rum trots into Rayleigh (Image: Peter Everingham for Rayleigh Town Museum)
In 1977 he even appeared as a studio guest at the BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards ceremony.
Red Rum died in October 1995, aged 30. His death made front pages across the globe. He was buried at Aintree Racecourse.