Foinavon

Horses | Last ran in 1968
Dam - Ecilace
Sire - Vulgan
Dam's Sire - Interlace
Born - 1958

Foinavon Grand National Wins

  • 1967 - ridden by John Buckingham trained by John Henry Kempton

Foinavon Book Cover

Having a fence named after you in the most famous horse race on the planet is an excellent way for people to know your name. Plenty will know the name Foinavon, but not many will know the actual story behind the horse, how he won, and why he has a fence named after him.

Despite being part of Grand National history, the horse actually only ran twice in the Grand National, winning his first attempt in 1967 and then being brought down in the 1968 renewal when trying to defend his crown.

But there is so much more to his success, not because of how good he was, but more the manner of it, which came in very bizarre circumstances, even for a race like this.

Foinavon the Only Runner Left Standing in 1967 Grand National

To begin the story of Foinavon, we must first mention that he was a horse that no one wanted to ride in the Grand National. Initial plans were in place for trainer John Kempton to ride him, but he couldn’t make the weight.

Owners of the horse were not prepared to pay the full riding fee to a jockey, so when offered to ride him in the race, many turned him down due to the fee. However, just three days before the race, a man came to the rescue, and that man was John Buckingham.

He had no Grand National experience and not too much big race experience anywhere, really, so it wasn’t the kind of jockey booking made for a fancied runner.

When we got to the day, there was little enthusiasm for Foinavon’s chances, so much so that on the day of the race, he was available and returned after the race at odds of 100/1. That told the story of his chances, a horse and jockey combo with no experience of Aintree, no positive recent form, and little in their favour.

His owners decided to not go to Aintree, and trainer Kempton chose to go to Worcester racecourse on the day of the Grand National to ride some other runners he had. How they both would live to regret their choice that day.

Forty-four runners began the race, and when coming up to the 23rd fence, 28 were still in contention, which is more than we would typically see at this point in the race. There were plenty of traffic problems, two loose horses led the field, but despite all of that, no one could have predicted what would happen next.

Foinavon Fence Pile UpOne of those two riderless runners, Popham Dawn, refused to jump the fence and veered across it, running the full length of the fence and causing mayhem in behind. One of the leaders, Rondetto, managed to avoid it all. He was the only horse to do so initially, but after jumping the fence, he unseated his rider on the other side.

As horses approached, they were coming to a halt, refusing to jump, bumping into each other, running down the fence, and as they did, causing even more problems for those still arriving.

Down the field at the time, Foinavon was approaching at quite a slow gallop, but his position in the field and the fact he was approaching slowly gave him a lifeline that would see him find a way through. He managed to somehow find a gap between runners, and not only that, but the horse jumped the fence, unlike the others around him, he was over, clear, and was the only runner still taking part at this point.

Heading to the next fence, Foniavon was 30 lengths clear with six fences to go, the unlikeliest of scenarios. Seventeen runners would remount and go again, trying their best to chase down Foinavon, they included the favourite Honey End, who found himself 20 lengths behind Foinavon at the final fence.

Despite those behind chasing, Foinavon was able to keep his lead and came home to win the most dramatic Grand National by a distance.

In the aftermath of the race, and over recent years too, there has been a lot of talk surrounding the win of Foinavon, and how lucky the horse was with the circumstances, and that is true. However, it should not take away from the face that he is a Grand National winner, and the time of his win backs up his quality, which shouldn’t be forgotten.

He won in a time that was three seconds quicker than Anglo, who won the 1966 Grand National, and there are other winners who won in a slower time, too, a point many forget when they just look at how lucky Foinavon was on the day of the race.

The Foinavon Fence

One of the main reasons why people know of the name Foinavon is because the horse has a fence named after him at Aintree. The Foinavon fence was officially called that in 1984 and is the current 7th and 23rd fence of the Grand National, where the melee happened that would lead to him winning the race.

Commentator on the day for the BBC was Michael O’Hehir, and after the race he did mention on live TV that he could see a scenario where Aintree racecourse would name that particular fenced the Foinavon fence. It took 17 years, but what he reported just moments after the race did come true in the end.

Foinavon’s Big Race Wins

Foinavon was not a runner who took in too many big races, and aside from the Grand National, he wouldn’t really have much in the way of success. In his build-up to the Grand National, Foinavon would take in the King George VI Chase at Kempton and the Cheltenham Gold Cup.

He was a respectable fourth at Kempton, a really good run in a top race, but was unplaced in the Gold Cup.

After winning the Grand National, despite quite a few other runs, Foinavon would only manage to win one more race before the horse was retired in 1969.

Full Results

Year Result Prize Money Handicap Jockey Trainer
1968 Fence 16 - Brought Down - 10-5 Phil Harvey John Henry Kempton
1967 1 £15879 10-00 John Buckingham John Henry Kempton