Today’s best bets, by Chris Cook
I thoroughly enjoyed speaking to as many of the jockeys who rode in the 1967 Grand National as I could find for this piece about Foinavon’s race. For those of you interested in the subject, I recommend David Owen’s definitive book and Owen was kind enough to put me in touch with a couple of the riders I would otherwise have missed.
There’s just a couple of interesting details I couldn’t fit into that piece, one concerning Stan Murphy, who seems not to have done much talking with journalists over the years. He was aboard Leedsy, a 50-1 shot who was just behind the leaders on the approach to the fateful 23rd fence.
You can see Leedsy in this coloured-up film of the race with a white stripe down his face and a noseband, Murphy wearing hooped colours. Murphy has an upright, unbalanced appearance and I’m embarrassed to admit that my initial thought was, ‘Ah, there’s one of them hopeless old-school amateurs …’
Of course, Murphy was no such thing. When I asked him for his memories of the race, almost the first thing he told me was that one of his stirrup leathers had broken at the water jump, the 16th fence. Murphy had ridden all the way from the stands down to and over Becher’s Brook without stirrups, an exceptional feat of riding.
Despite that minor difficulty, Murphy still thinks he was on his way to victory. “I was never going better than I was then. It wasn’t easy but I was really going well. I would have won.
“I was very annoyed. He was a funny old horse, he had only won an ordinary race at Down Royal. But he was a different horse on that day.”
There are precedents for jockeys doing well in the National despite such a trifling setback as the loss of their pedals. Alfred Newey won in 1907 aboard Eremon after riding without stirrups from about the fourth fence. Tim Brookshaw was second on Wyndburgh in 1959 after a leather broke at second Becher’s. But such exploits seem in a different world and modern jockeys would surely be inclined to pull up if a leather broke mid-race.
The other point I haven’t made concerns the contribution of Foinavon’s trainer, John Kempton, who hardly ever gets much credit for the unlikely victory whenever the story is told. Everyone imagines his horse won just because the others were knocked over and the conversation ends there.
But Foinavon would not have taken advantage of the moment if he had been unable to clear all 30 fences, seven of which he faced without any company. Kempton reports that he had spent ages working on the horse’s jumping, adding that Foinavon’s propensity for falling was the main reason he was sold off by a previous owner, Anne, Duchess of Westminster, who also had Arkle. “She didn’t like a horse who fell,” Kempton told me.
Foinavon’s form, as reproduced in Owen’s book, bears this out. From his two years as a chaser in Ireland, Foinavon fell five times from 18 starts. Whenever a sporting achievement carries a whiff of luck, one always has to remember that the winner put themselves in a position to benefit from that luck.
On to today, then, and a couple of well-backed ones at Ludlow catch my eye. Jayo Time (3.30) is twice a course winner who was again running well here when last seen in May before suffering a late fall. I expect Kerry Lee will have him straight enough for this return, when he will be partnered for the first time by the capable amateur Richard Patrick. They’re 9-2.
Earlier, Tarrona (2.00) isn’t the obvious one in the novice hurdle but trainer Alan Phillips has been among the winners lately and this eight-year-old has been improving for each run since joining him in December. He was only beaten three parts of a length in a Hereford handicap last time and is 11-2 after some support.
Monday’s tips
Ludlow
2.00 Tarrona 2.30 According To Harry 3.00 Shantou Rock (nap) 3.30 Jayo Time 4.00 Hestina 4.30 Zeehan 5.00 Creevytennant 5.30 Amron Kali
Kelso
2.10 Christmas In USA 2.40 Finaghy Ayr 3.10 Bescot Springs 3.40 Chidswell 4.10 Grace Tara 4.40 Monbeg Aquadude
Huntingdon
2.20 Just Milly 2.50 Spiritual Man 3.20 Bagging Turf 3.50 Pillard 4.20 Peal Of Bells (nb) 4.50 Troufion 5.20 Cockney Wren
