1967 Grand National began running in the wrong direction, back the way they had come. The undistinguished Foinavon, whose owner had such little faith in him that he had travelled to Worcester on race day instead, had been lagging so far behind that his jockey, John Buckingham, had sufficient time to steer his mount wide of the mêlée and find a small gap in the fence to jump cleanly on the outside. Being on the only horse over the 23rd at the first attempt, Buckingham found himself with a surprise lead of 30 lengths. Although 17 jockeys remounted to give chase and some
Foinavon 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. 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. It was also reminiscent of the 1928 Grand National, when Tipperary Tim was the only horse to finish the race without being