The 1967 Grand National was the 121st renewal of the world-famous
Grand National
The Grand National is a National Hunt horse race held annually at Aintree Racecourse in Liverpool, England. First run in 1839, it is a handicap ...
steeplechase
Steeplechase may refer to:
* Steeplechase (horse racing), a type of horse race in which participants are required to jump over obstacles
* Steeplechase (athletics), an event in athletics that derives its name from the steeplechase in horse racing ...
that took place at
Aintree Racecourse
Aintree Racecourse is a horse racing, racecourse in Aintree, Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England, bordering the city of Liverpool. The racecourse is the venue for the Grand National steeplechase (horse racing), steeplechase, whi ...
near
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
, England, on 8 April 1967. The race is best remembered for being won by outsider
Foinavon
Foinavon (1958–1971) was an Irish racehorse. He won the Grand National in 1967 at odds of 100/1 after the rest of the field fell, refused or were hampered or brought down in a mêlée at the 23rd fence. The fence was officially named after ...
at odds of 100/1, after being the only horse to avoid a mêlée at the 23rd fence and jump it at the first attempt.
By
Becher's Brook
Becher's Brook ( ) is a fence jumped during the Grand National, a National Hunt horse race held annually at Aintree Racecourse near Liverpool, England. It is jumped twice during the race, as the and fence, as well as on four other occasions ...
on the second circuit 28 horses were left in the race and all jumped it successfully. One horse, Vulcano, had been injured in a fall at the third fence and was
euthanised
Animal euthanasia ( euthanasia from el, εὐθανασία; "good death") is the act of killing an animal or allowing it to die by withholding extreme medical measures. Reasons for euthanasia include incurable (and especially painful) conditi ...
.
The most dramatic moment of the race, and perhaps of Grand National history, came when a loose horse – Popham Down, who had been hampered and unseated his rider at the first fence – veered dramatically to his right at the 23rd fence, slamming into Rutherfords, unseating its jockey Johnny Leech. A pile-up ensued. Rondetto, Norther, Kirtle Lad, Princeful, Leedsy and other horses hit the ground, then began running up and down the fence preventing others from jumping and bringing the whole race effectively to a halt. Some even began running in the wrong direction, back the way they had come.
[
Foinavon, whose owner had travelled to Worcester on race day to ride another of his horses, had been in 22nd position at Becher's, about three lengths behind the favourite Honey End, and his jockey, John Buckingham, had sufficient time to steer his mount wide of the mêlée and find a small gap in the fence to jump cleanly on the outside.
Being on the only horse over the 23rd at the first attempt, Buckingham found himself with a surprise lead of 30 lengths. Although 17 jockeys remounted to give chase and some did make up considerable ground, especially ]Josh Gifford
Josh Gifford (3 August 1941 – 9 February 2012) was a jockey and trainer in National Hunt racing. He was a four-time Champion Jockey, riding 642 winners in his career. He retired from training in 2002, aged 60, and his son Nick Gifford took ...
on 15/2 favourite Honey End, none had time to catch Foinavon before he passed the finishing post 15 length
Length is a measure of distance. In the International System of Quantities, length is a quantity with dimension distance. In most systems of measurement a base unit for length is chosen, from which all other units are derived. In the Interna ...
s clear.[ His success paid out a record 444/1 on ]the Tote
The Tote is a British gambling company which is the largest pool betting operator in the United Kingdom. Headquartered in Wigan, England, its main products are sports betting and online casino. Founded in 1928, the company was owned by the U ...
.Michael O'Hehir
Michael James Hehir (also known as Michael O'Hehir and ga, Mícheál Ó hEithir; 2 June 1920 – 24 November 1996) was an Irish hurling, football and horse racing commentator and journalist. Between 1938 and 1985 his enthusiasm and memor ...
suggested that with obstacles like Becher's Brook
Becher's Brook ( ) is a fence jumped during the Grand National, a National Hunt horse race held annually at Aintree Racecourse near Liverpool, England. It is jumped twice during the race, as the and fence, as well as on four other occasions ...
and Valentine's, the 23rd might one day be named after Foinavon. In 1984, the Aintree executive officially named the fence (the smallest on the course at ) the ''Foinavon fence''.BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
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...
, jockey John Buckingham described some of the extraordinary circumstances of his win in an interview. Three jockeys had turned down Foinavon prior to the race (his price the day before the National was 500/1), but Buckingham took up the opportunity to ride in the famous steeplechase. With a clear view of the mêlée at the 23rd, Foinavon was almost hampered by Honey End, whose jockey had remounted, turned around and was ready to attempt to jump the fence. At the next obstacle, the
, Buckingham looked back in disbelief at the clear lead he held with just six fences remaining. After passing the elbow on the run-in, he got a final burst of energy from Foinavon, and later reflected: "Then there was no doubt, I knew I won it. I was absolutely over the moon."