Foinavon

For the mountain in Scotland, see Foinaven.

Foinavon
Sire	Vulgan
Grandsire	Sirlan
Dam	Ecilace
Damsire	Interlace ^[1]
Sex	Gelding
Foaled	1958
Country	Ireland
Colour	Black
Breeder	Timothy Ryan
Owner	1) Anne, Duchess of Westminster 2) Cyril Watkins
Major wins
Grand National (1967)
Last updated on 19 January 2008

Foinavon (1958–1971) was an undistinguished Irish racehorse, until he won the Grand National in 1967 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 Foinavon in 1984.

He was at one point owned by Anne Grosvenor, Duchess of Westminster, whose colours were also carried by Arkle. Both were named after Scottish mountains.

1967 Grand National

Foinavon, ridden by John Buckingham, was a rank outsider at odds of 100/1 to win the 1967 Grand National, and his owner Cyril Watkins had such little belief in his chances that he was not even at the course.

For the first circuit and a half, Foinavon played no real part in the proceedings, in which 28 of the 44 starters had safely survived past the 22nd fence (Becher's Brook). However, 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 and unseating his 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 it, and bringing the race effectively to a halt. Some horses even began running in the wrong direction, back the way they had come.

Foinavon had been lagging so far behind that Buckingham had time to steer his mount clear of the chaos and jump on the wide outside, long before any of the others could remount or attempt the fence again. At the next obstacle, the Canal Turn, Buckingham looked back in disbelief at the 30-length lead he held with just six fences remaining. 17 remounted horses gave chase,^[2] and 15/2 favourite Honey End closed the gap to within 20 lengths by the final fence, but Foinavon was able to maintain this lead over the run-in. Red Alligator, who went on to win in 1968, was a distant third.^[3]

The incident is almost always replayed on Grand National day, and it has also gained fame owing to the distinctive commentary of Michael O'Hehir.^[4] After the race, O'Hehir suggested that with obstacles like Becher's Brook and Valentine's Brook, the 23rd might one day be named after Foinavon. In 1984, the Aintree executive officially named the 7th/23rd fence (the smallest on the course at 4 ft 6 in) the Foinavon fence.^[5]

O'Hehir's commentary

Irish commentator Michael O'Hehir was better known as a Gaelic football commentator but often covered racing and was brought in to cover the race at the far end of the course, going to Becher's Brook and coming away from Valentine's. His commentary of the carnage at the 23rd fence ranks among the most famous in the history of BBC televised sport and is often shown when BBC Sport puts together nostalgic montages of great sporting moments. O'Hehir received particular respect from his peers for the speed and unflustered coolness with which he identified Foinavon as the horse emerging from the mêlée. O'Hehir later said in an interview that it was precisely the unfamiliarity of Foinavon's colours that made him so instantly recognisable during the race. O'Hehir visited the weighing room before the race, as is the custom of many National commentators, to familiarise himself more clearly with the colours of the silks but found himself completely stumped when looking at the black with red and yellow braces being worn by John Buckingham. Eventually O'Hehir had to ask Buckingham who his mount was. A confused O'Hehir said that his racecard showed two-tone green quarters for Foinavon, as worn by the rider in the Cheltenham Gold Cup a few weeks earlier, but Buckingham explained that the owner felt green to be unlucky and so had registered new colours for the National.^[6]

Defence

Foinavon defended his title in the 1968 Grand National but was brought down at the 16th fence, the water jump. His jockey that year was Phil Harvey; Buckingham had a broken arm.^[7]

Similar incidents

A similar incident occurred in 2001 when Red Marauder won the race from Smarty after they were left clear following a pile up at the Canal Turn on the first circuit, and after the other remaining horses fell or were brought down by the 20th fence.^[8]

It was also reminiscent of the 1928 Grand National, when Tipperary Tim was the only horse to finish the race without being remounted, also at odds of 100-1.^[9]

References

↑ Foinavon Horse Pedigree
↑ The Field Folds for Foinavon The Guardian
↑ "Grand National History 1960-69". The-grand-national.co.uk. Retrieved 2011-05-08.
↑ Michael O' Hehir's Foinavon Commentary RTE.ie
↑ "BBC Sport - Horse Racing - The story of Foinaven's 1967 Grand National victory". BBC News. 2010-04-10. Retrieved 2011-05-08.
↑ Michael O'Hehir explains his meeting with John Buckingham before the '67 National
↑ Armytage, Marcus (2007-04-13). "Mayhem made Foinavon famous". Telegraph. Retrieved 2011-05-08.
↑ 2001 Aintree Grand National - Red Marauder YouTube
↑ 1928 Grand National YouTube

External links

Grand National

Races by year	1836 1837 1838 1839 1840 1841 1842 1843 1844 1845 1846 1847 1848 1849 1850 1851 1852 1853 1854 1855 1856 1857 1858 1859 1860 1861 1862 1863 1864 1865 1866 1867 1868 1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Course	Aintree Racecourse Becher's Brook Canal Turn The Chair

Famous horses	Aldaniti Battleship Corbiere Crisp Devon Loch The Duke E.S.B. Foinavon Golden Miller L'Escargot Lord Gyllene Lottery Peter Simple Red Rum West Tip

Famous jockeys	Jack Anthony Martin Becher Tommy Carberry Bob Champion Richard Dunwoody Brian Fletcher Dick Francis Josh Gifford Bruce Hobbs Count Karl Kinsky Jem Mason Tony McCoy Tom Olliver Ernest Piggott Richard Pitman Ruby Walsh Fred Winter

Other people	Peter Bromley Ginger McCain Vincent O'Brien Michael O'Hehir Peter O'Sullevan Jenny Pitman Fred Rimell Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Lord Oaksey Lord Sefton

Lists	List of Grand National winners List of Grand National first four placings List of equine fatalities in the Grand National

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Sunday, April 24, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.