The winner was owned by Viscount de Namur and trained in France by Yorkshire born trainer Henry (Harry) Jeremiah Lamplugh who also chose to ride the horse himself.
[1] The Huntsman had left Chantilly in February 1861 under the care of Lamplugh to spend a year at Doncaster preparing for the Grand National.
Five horses completed the course although the third placed Romeo had refused at the third last fence while fifth placed Bucephalus had been virtually brought down in the early stages and finished tailed off from his rivals.
One of the riders, Joseph {Joe} Wynne, riding in his first National was crushed and was taken unconscious to the nearby Sefton Arms Inn where he died five hours later.
Within a month of his victory, The Huntsman was taken back to France to the headquarters of his new owner, the Baron de la Motte, at the Imperial Haras [stud] at Abbeville.