The 1967 Grand National was certainly a race to remember. It was possibly the most chaotic renewal of the race ever and certainly one that people remember. Many watched at the time, but those who didn’t have probably seen at least one part of this race since it was one of the most dramatic scenes in Grand National history.
Winner of the race was Foinavon, and it’s a big enough story that he was a winner with an SP of 100/1. But there is a lot more to the story than just that, with the race history, dramatic 23rd fence, and Tote odds for the winner all having their own little facts and figures, adding more to this dramatic contest.
John Buckingham was the winning rider, his first-ever ride in the Grand National. He was also a jockey put in an unusual position due to the incident, which we will talk about shortly. He would have three more rides in the race without another win, but he did manage to complete the course every time he attempted it.
John Henry Kempton was the trainer of Foinavon. Throughout his career, he had two horses run in the Grand National, both running twice, but the only time that he had a completion was this race when he had the winner.
The 23rd Fence
The incident at the 23rd fence in 1967 has been shown over and over again down the years. You may have seen it and not actually realised it was from this year. It shaped the race that year and actually played a part in years to come.
The 23rd fence, which is also the 7th fence on the first circuit, was renamed in 1984, giving it the name Foinavon. This is something that BBC commentator Michael O’Hehir said could happen after the race, and some years later, he was proven to be right.
Bizarrely, the now-named Foinavon fence is actually the smallest on the course, which makes what happened in 1967 even more fascinating.
Going out on the second circuit of the race, 28 horses remained in the contest, with many jumping really well. Popham Down, who was running loose on the track after unseating at the first fence, was the initial cause of the incident.
He went sharply right at the 23rd fence, hitting into Rutherfords, who would unseat his jockey. That caused a pile-up of horses in behind, four horses fell, and then a group of runners all stopped and were running around in front of the fence, which prevented any other runners from being able to go past, jump the fence and carry on the race.
Only horses at the very back had enough time to see what was happening and steer their way past the trouble, and Foinavon, under John Buckingham, was one of those. Buckingham found a small gap on the outside, went past and jumped the fence, along with Kirtle Lad, another back marker.
At the next fence, Kirtle Lad refused to jump, leaving Foinavon clear by 30 lengths. After the trouble at fence 23, 17 runners remounted to try to get back into the race, and some of them made their way back into contention.
However, none could get close enough to Foinavon to give him a real scare, and he came home to win the contest by 15 lengths.
A day before the race, Foinavon was priced up at 500/1, and with his regular jockey unavailable due to the weight, his ride was up for grabs. Three jockeys turned down the ride before Buckingham accepted, and that proved to be a great stroke of luck.
Had he not been so far behind and tailed off from the field, there is no way that Foinavon and Buckingham would have been able to navigate the trouble at fence 23, it would have also been what took them out of the contest.
Record Tote Odds
Not only was the race won in dramatic circumstances, but we also saw a record made with the price of the winner. 500/1 a day before the race, a 100/1 SP on the day, but this record was set with the Tote dividend on course.
Foinavon was returned at a Tote price of 444/1, which is a record on the Tote returns.