Foinavon

by David Owen

  Mr H. Coriat/Gloucestershire Hurdle – Sporting Life, 3 March 1948.

  John de Moraville’s war record – war diaries of 4th (Queen’s Own) Hussars; telephone interview with his son, also John.

  De Moraville’s thumb – face-to-face interview with Sir Peter O’Sullevan, former racing commentator; telephone interview with his son.

  Newmarket sale – Ruff’s Guide to the Turf, 1951 edition, page 807.

  Dermot Whelan – telephone and face-to-face interviews.

  Frank Latham’s early plans for Blackrath – Whelan and The Griese Valley & Beyond, Barbara Sheridan (ed.), Millbrook Press, 2003, page 111.

  Coping with Vulgan’s temper – Whelan face-to-face interview.

  Vulgan’s initial and final fees – Whelan.

  Fees in intervening years – Register of Thoroughbred Stallions.

  Blackrath and leading National Hunt sires – Statistical Abstract and The Statistical Record Annual. The method of counting changed about halfway through Vulgan’s career. So did the period covered, from the 12 months to 30 June to the calendar year.

  Chapter 2

  Coolmore stud – base of the great stallion Sadler’s Wells, now deceased, and many others.

  Timothy H. Ryan personal details – telephone and face-to-face interviews with his daughter, Jill McCormack.

  The K Club – the Kildare Hotel Spa & Country Club, host of the 2006 Ryder Cup.

  Ecilace breeding record – Bloodstock Breeders’ Review, 1967, page 112.

  Captain Charles Radclyffe’s acquisition of Foinavon – telephone and face-to-face interviews with Capt. Radclyffe himself.

  Details of regime at Lew – interviews with Capt. Radcliffe and Patrick Foley, household manager at Lew House farm.

  Corbiere – winner of 1983 Grand National, third in 1984 and 1985; Zongalero – second in 1979 Grand National; State of Play – fourth in 2009 Grand National, third in 2010, fourth again in 2011.

  May 1960 sale – Grosvenor Estate records.

  The auction for Arkle – Peter O’Sullevan’s Horse Racing Heroes, Sir Peter O’Sullevan, CBE, Highdown, 2004, page 8.

  Arkle – winner of three Cheltenham Gold Cups between 1964 and 1966; the greatest steeplechaser in history.

  Taken to Bryanstown – Grosvenor Estate records.

  Sent to Greenogue – Grosvenor Estate records.

  Chapter 3

  The two most highly rated steeplechasers – Timeform puts Arkle’s best rating at 212 and Flyingbolt’s at 210. This compares with Mill House 191, Desert Orchid 187 and Best Mate 182. Each point’s difference equates approximately to 1lb in weight.

  Flyingbolt’s brucellosis – Go Down to the Beaten, Chris Pitt, Racing Post Books, 2011, page 149.

  Tom Dreaper’s 1964 winnings – Arkle – the Classic Story of a Champion, Ivor Herbert, Aurum Press, 2003, page 131 (first published in 1966 by Pelham Books).

  Queen Mother Champion Chase – originally the National Hunt Two-mile Champion Chase.

  Dreaper’s seven consecutive Irish Grand Nationals were with Olympia (1960), Fortria (1961), Kerforo (1962), Last Link (1963), Arkle (1964), Splash (1965) and Flyingbolt (1966).

  Horses rarely long out of boxes – Arkle – the Classic Story of a Champion, Ivor Herbert, Aurum Press, 2003, page 97.

  ‘We used to go out at nine … ’ Peter McLoughlin – face-to-face interview.

  Fairyhouse fences – a reference to the racecourse where the Irish Grand National is held.

  Pat Taaffe on the ‘baby’ fences – Arkle – the Classic Story of a Champion, Ivor Herbert, Aurum Press, 2003, page 74.

  ‘A car with four flat tyres’ – face-to-face interview.

  Taaffe, ‘He moved so terribly … ’ – Arkle – the Classic Story of a Champion, Ivor Herbert, Aurum Press, 2003, page 57.

  Trace clip – a clip that leaves more of the horse’s coat on than when in racing mode; suitable for light work.

  Unnamed in 1962 Horses in Training – Arkle – The Story of the World’s Greatest Steeplechaser, Sean Magee, Highdown, 2005 pages 27–8.

  A Munro is a Scottish mountain over 3,000 feet; Foinaven’s height is 2,989 feet.

  Among the young Foinavon’s stablemates at Greenogue in 1962 was Castle Falls, who was destined to be one of the 1967 Grand National’s unlucky losers.

  Irish bumper races in the 1960s – Arkle – the Classic Story of a Champion, Ivor Herbert, Aurum Press, 2003 pages 59–60.

  Foinavon ‘a bit one-paced’ in first race – Tony Cameron telephone interview.

  Tony Cameron’s appearance in 1964 Olympics – Go Down to the Beaten, Chris Pitt, Racing Post Books, 2011, page 95.

  ‘Little is known of Foinavon… ’ – The Times, 16 Nov 1962.

  ‘Arkle seemed almost embarrassed…’ – Peter O’Sullevan’s Horse Racing Heroes, Sir Peter O’Sullevan, CBE, Highdown, 2004, page 9.

  Cheltenham ground as soft as dough – Arkle – the Classic Story of a Champion, Ivor Herbert, Aurum Press, 2003, page 89.

  ‘I don’t think I ever met a horse with less ambition’ – My Life and Arkle’s, Pat Taaffe, Stanley Paul, 1972, pages 69–70.

  Vincent Slevin – telephone interview.

  ‘Growing during the winter’ – Grosvenor Estate records.

  Official sixth birthday – for official purposes, all racehorses are considered to have been born on 1 January.

  Baldoyle not a course for ‘young, green’ horses – Arkle – the Classic Story of a Champion, Ivor Herbert, Aurum Press, 2003, page 75.

  Bobby Beasley – winner of the 1961 Grand National. Quotes on tough racing tactics taken from Second Start, Bobby Beasley, W.H. Allen, 1976.

  First victory at Naas – Paddy Woods telephone interview.

  Second win at Punchestown – Peter McLoughlin telephone interview.

  ‘Looking awfully well’ – Grosvenor Estate records.

  Johnny Kelly – Arkle – the Classic Story of a Champion, Ivor Herbert, Aurum Press, 2003, page 178.

  Baldoyle today – personal visit by author September 2011.

  Fatal insurance notification – Baldoyle – the Racecourse Village, Michael J. Hurley, 2002, page 51.

  Atmosphere at the course – ibid.

  Michael O’Hehir – arguably the best-known voice in Ireland, he would famously encounter Foinavon again at Aintree two years later.

  Delayed last race – The Irish Field, 9 Jan 1965.

  The bald facts – the race was won by another son of Vulgan’s called Vulcano. The two horses would meet again 27 months later at Aintree with a very different result.

  A heavy fall – The Irish Field reports that Foinavon fell at the third fence. Course historian Michael Hurley says this was called Rooney’s Hill, after a family who lived beside it. He describes it as ‘the worst fence … as it was met on rising ground that then fell away again.’ Taaffe had already suffered one fall that day, in the first race at the very first fence.

  ‘On a day at Baldoyle … ’ – My Life and Arkle’s, Pat Taaffe, Stanley Paul, 1972, page 69.

  Tony Cameron – telephone interview.

  Peter McLoughlin – telephone and face-to-face interviews.

  Chapter 4

  Except where stated, the main sources for this chapter were face-to-face or telephone interviews with individuals present at the yard in the 1960s, including: John Kempton, trainer; Colin ‘Jake’ Hemsley, head lad; Joy Smith (née Douglas), stable girl; and Frank Whittle, jockey.

  Kempton had learnt to shoe horses – the young trainer shod his own racehorses throughout his career. The racing plates worn by Foinavon in the 1967 Grand National were hand-made by him.

  Captain Ryan Price – Champion National Hunt trainer five times between 1954 and 1967.

  Lockinge – where Best Mate was based in his Cheltenham Gold Cup-winning years.

  Peek Frean – known particularly for the Garibaldi biscuit.

  Seas End’s race record – ‘With Nothing in his Mouth’ by Lieut.-Colonel Tom Nickalls,
The Field, 4 February 1965.

  Paddy Prendergast – quoted in Great Racehorse Trainers, Tim Fitzgeorge-Parker, Pelham Books, 1975, page 128.

  Gordon Passey – face-to-face interview with Edward Saunders, Passey’s nephew, and other sources.

  Horse slaughterer to Her Majesty – a publicity poster for the Oxford-based business proclaims, ‘The utmost value given for live & dead horses, cows &c., and fetched away on the shortest notice.’ It adds, ‘Best harness oil & cart grease.’ The poster incorporates a ditty, the first verse of which runs:

  William Passey in his business is a man of great renown;

  He always gives best prices, both in country and in town;

  And if you want to try him, you may bear this in your mind,

  That for promptness or attention he’s the best you’ll ever find.

  Mick the Miller – twice winner of the English Greyhound Derby in 1929 and 1930.

  Prendergast on betting – ‘I had to bet to exist. I used to bet quite a lot, particularly long-price ante-post bets. But I’m in the happy position of not having to do so now [in 1966]. Obviously the majority of trainers have to bet to live.’ Quoted in Great Racehorse Trainers, Tim Fitzgeorge-Parker, Pelham Books, 1975, page 128.

  Seedier side of racing – The Barry Brogan Story – In His Own Words, Barry Brogan, Arthur Barker, 1981, pages 61–2.

  As a 17-year-old in 1965, Brogan became the youngest trainer to saddle a horse in the Grand National; it refused at the 20th fence.

  Chapter 5

  ‘One chilly morning’ – telephone interview with Colin Hemsley.

  Cab proprietor’s son – father’s profession cited on Cyril and Iris’s marriage certificate.

  Sources for personal details on Cyril and Iris Watkins and Mac Bennellick include Lyn Shelton and Paul Nixon, Iris’s niece and nephew, Chris Compton, Mac’s daughter-in-law, Zelda Blackadder, family friend of the Watkins, and Tony Bennellick, Mac’s nephew. Information gathered via email exchanges, as well as telephone and face-to-face interviews.

  7¾ million football pools customers – Frederick Peart, MP for Workington, House of Commons debate on the Pool Betting Act, 29 January 1954.

  Reginald Paget – House of Commons debate on replacement of the 1853 Betting Act, 5 May 1960.

  Cheapest tax in the world – John Tilney, MP for Liverpool Wavertree, House of Commons debate on a National Lottery, 1 July 1968, ‘Last year [the pools] produced £30 million revenue and next year it will be £40 million, at a cost of £2,500. Pools betting duty must be the cheapest tax in the world.’

  Significant source of employment – figures stated by John Tilney, MP for Liverpool Wavertree, House of Commons debate on a National Lottery, 1 July 1968.

  The young gelding had won a race for them – it was a good day for John Kempton, since he also won the previous race, riding Seas End. In a melancholy footnote, In Tune, a horse that used to be at the Kemptons’ yard, pulled up with a broken fetlock in Seas End’s race and had to be put down.

  McCrimmon obliged to run in better races – novices’ hurdles are for horses who have yet to win a race over obstacles. Once an animal has won such a race, he is clearly no longer eligible to enter them in future. However, in those days, National Hunt racing operated a six-week entry system. Victorious novices could still run in any races they had been entered in before their victory. McCrimmon’s second win, at Folkestone, was also in a novices’ hurdle.

  Handicaps not wide enough – there were exceptions but, broadly speaking, in jumps racing horses carried at least ten stone in weight (deemed the minimum a jockey with saddle could be expected to ride at) and at most 12st 7lb (the most it could reasonably be expected to hump around in race conditions). If the relative merits of two horses in a race differed so much that this weight-range was insufficient to ‘equalise’ their chances of winning, the inferior horse would have to carry ten stone, even if its true weight should have been significantly less. One pound was deemed broadly to equal one length in handicappers’ terms.

  Watkins’ and Bennellick’s appetites whetted – another early acquisition was a horse called Saucerstown, which they renamed Ben Wat, hence turning it into the equine equivalent of a personalised number plate.

  Chapter 6

  No children of her own – she did, in effect, adopt the orphaned children of her husband Ronald’s cousin, but, while James Bidwell-Topham was a Tophams director and, for a time, clerk of the course, neither he nor his sister Patricia possessed Mrs Topham’s leadership qualities.

  Mrs Topham performed wonders – Gallant Sport – the Authentic History of Liverpool Races and the Grand National, John Pinfold, Portway Press, 1999, pages 207–8. Pinfold writes, ‘That the course was restored to a condition fit to be used in a mere six weeks was possibly Mrs Topham’s finest achievement.’

  New horse-racing course with easier fences – the Mildmay course, named after Lord Mildmay, a noted amateur jockey who drowned in 1950 and is credited with stimulating the Queen Mother’s keen interest in jump racing.

  Paddock Lodge – now converted into a restaurant.

  Mrs Topham’s bell-pull – face-to-face interview with Ray Lakeland, former BBC producer.

  Ossie Dale – face-to-face interview.

  Tight grasp on purse-strings – in November 1963, directors agreed to buy a replacement sewing machine ‘as the present one was now dangerous owing to being so worn’. Minutes of Tophams Ltd board meetings, volume XII.

  Steve Westhead – minutes of Tophams Ltd board meetings, volume XIII.

  Topham Ltd financial information – gleaned from company report and accounts.

  Devon Loch was ridden by Dick Francis, later a journalist and best-selling author.

  Shareholder dividends – as at 1 January 1968, there were 1,125 shares in Topham Ltd, the family firm set up in 1899, in issue. Mrs Topham and James Bidwell-Topham owned 544 of these between them.

  Mrs Topham’s London house – The Grand National, Anybody’s Race, Peter King, Quartet Books, 1983, page 93.

  50 per cent salary rise – minutes of Tophams Ltd board meetings, volume XII. Mrs Topham’s salary increase was from £500 to £750 per annum, with a yearly expense allowance of £300. Miss Bidwell-Topham’s fee as ‘wardrobe mistress’ was increased by £100 to £250 per annum at the same time. ‘Although Miss Bidwell-Topham functioned under this title, it was generally accepted that she dealt with 101 jobs for which she was absurdly paid,’ the minutes note.

  Buildings in poor repair – the minutes of a Tophams Ltd board meeting, 28 November 1964, allude to a crack in the rear wall of Tattersalls stand.

  Sale of Grand National rights – minutes of Tophams Ltd. board meetings, volume XII.

  Leslie Marler – information sources include interviews with his daughter, June Robinson, and cousin and former colleague at Capital and Counties, Dennis Marler.

  Marler, ‘Not a question of destroying the Grand National’ – Liverpool Daily Post, 2 July 1964.

  ‘The houses not the horses’ – Liverpool Echo, 2 July 1964.

  Birmingham racecourse closure – A Long Time Gone, Chris Pitt, Timeform, 2006.

  Bogside allocated no more fixtures – Hansard, 9 July 1964, vol. 698, cc 610–2.

  Capital and Counties share price – Liverpool Echo, 2 July 1964.

  Mrs Topham’s letters – minutes of Tophams Ltd board meetings, volume XIII.

  Sefton family owned Aintree for 750 years – Liverpool Daily Post, 6 October 1964.

  Lord Sefton hates prospect of no racing at Aintree – Liverpool Echo, 3 July 1964.

  Lord Sefton’s restraining order – Liverpool Daily Post, 4 July 1964.

  Lord-in-Waiting to Edward VIII – The Grand National, Anybody’s Race, Peter King, Quartet Books, 1983, page 85.

  Levy Board capable of controlling the sport – Rien Ne Va Plus, Martin Crawshay, The Memoir Club, 2002, page 74.

  ‘Grandees of the Jockey Club’ – ibid., page 56.

  Court reports – Liverpool Echo,
2–6 October 1964 and Liverpool Daily Post, 7 October 1964.

  Mr Justice Stamp’s ruling – Liverpool Echo, 30 October 1964.

  Death of a staff member – minutes of Tophams Ltd board meetings, volume XIII.

  No substitute Grand National – Liverpool Echo, 14 November 1964.

  Decision to appeal judgement – minutes of Tophams Ltd board meetings, volume XIII.

  112 entries – numbers inevitably come down to more manageable levels in the weeks leading up to race-day. In the event, there were 47 runners in the 1965 Grand National, a big field but not the biggest ever.

  John Leech – telephone interview. Leech rode a horse called Coleen Star. They got as far as the 9th fence.

  Chapter 7

  ‘Tom Dreaper’s Grand National hope’ – Irish Field, 2 January 1965. Under the pen-name ‘Formor’, the newspaper’s correspondent tipped Foinavon to win the race. ‘While he has never quite lived up to the promise of his good looks, Foin-avon is a fair type in this company and can score,’ he wrote.

  Tom Dreaper’s illness – Arkle – The Classic Story of a Champion, Ivor Herbert, Aurum Press, 2003, page 125.

  The Grand National always eluded Dreaper – his horses came second at Aintree in both 1970 and 1971, when his son Jim piloted Black Secret. Arkle never ran in the race; the Duchess of Westminster would not risk him.

  Foinavon falls at the last at Naas – Irish Field, 16 January 1965.

  Peter McLoughlin – telephone interview with author.

  Pat Taaffe’s jockeys’ title – Arkle – The Classic Story of a Champion, Ivor Herbert, Aurum Press, 2003, page 131.

  Well beaten at Leopardstown – Irish Field, 23 January 1965.

  Peter McLoughlin – telephone interview with author.

  Barker yet to win a steeplechase – Irish Field, 13 February 1965.

  Quintin Bay – would go on to run in four Grand Nationals, being pulled up in 1965 and finishing 6th, 11th and 17th in the three subsequent years.

  Foinavon ‘magnificently ridden’ – Irish Field, 13 February 1965.