When John Anthony Buckingham (born July 10, 1940) was approached to ride Foinavon in the 1967 Grand National, he accepted the ride with the knowledge that it had already been turned down by three other jockeys - and that, should the horse win, the owner would only pay him the flat riding fee of £5.10s.
He explained later: 'I'd have ridden Dick's donkey to be in the Grand National...'
Foinavon's trainer, John Kempton, had such little faith in the horse that he chose to go to Worcester for the day instead.
Had he travelled to Aintree, he would have witnessed one of the biggest upsets in Grand National History.
At the 23rd fence, Popham Down, who had been hampered and unseated his rider at the first fence — veered dramatically to his right, slamming into Rutherfords, unseating its jockey Johnny Leech. A pile-up ensued. Rondetto, Norther, Kirtle Lad, Princeful, Leedsy and other horses hit the ground, then began running up and down the fence preventing others from jumping and bringing the whole race effectively to a halt. Some even began running in the wrong direction, back the way they had come.
With a clear view of the mêlée, Foinavon was almost hampered by Honey End, whose jockey had remounted, turned around and was ready to attempt to jump the fence.
At the next obstacle, the Canal Turn, John Buckingham looked back in disbelief at the clear lead he held with just six fences remaining. After passing the elbow on the run-in, he got a final burst of energy from Foinavon, and later reflected: "Then there was no doubt, I knew I won it. I was absolutely over the moon."
Hardly a day has passed since his win when John Buckingham has not been introduced to someone as 'the man who rode Foinavon.'
"I remember it like it was yesterday," said John, who became a jockeys' valet when he retired in 1971 and 'looked after' 14 National winning jockeys in 30 years. "It was my first ride in the race. I was almost first out of the gate but they were going such a strong gallop that from then on I was struggling and had to keep pumping away at Foinavon."
There was an unusually large number of horses still standing at Becher's second time. Well down the field Honey End, the favourite, and Josh Gifford were about three lengths in front of Foinavon as they approached the 23rd. The riderless Popham Down, a first-fence casualty, was leading the field.
"Foinavon was running a respectable race," continued John. "He definitely wouldn't have disgraced himself and although he was 100-1 he'd only been beaten three lengths by Honey End earlier that season. The leaders had gone such a gallop they'd have come back to us. With Josh and Brian Fletcher (Red Alligator), both good judges of pace, near me I was quite happy at the time.
"I didn't know it was happening until I was in it. Popham Down stopped and ran down the fence. Horses were coming back to us loose, whipping around, at a standstill. There were more jockeys than horses running about on the landing side. Three strides out I was sideways on to the fence. Honey End came back past me in the opposite direction to have another crack at the fence (it took him three goes). I turned Foinavon in and show-jumped it. Pat Buckley was upside down in the fence, Johnny Haine had got over the fence but came off doing so. It wasn't until the Canal Turn that I knew I was on my own. From then on I was just concentrating on keeping him going. He was a lazy old bugger but I knew he wouldn't fall."
Gifford, on the eventual runner-up Honey End, also recalled being happy with the way things were going until the 23rd fence.
"I was still in no hurry," he said. "But in the mayhem, my horse just froze underneath me. I was taking a turn when John came past. He was the lucky one who got through. If I'd been able to follow him through then I'd have won - that was the unlucky bit for me. It seemed like 10 minutes. I used him up trying to catch Foinavon and I was actually closer to him crossing the Melling Road [between the third and second last] than I was at the line. My horse was knackered from the second last."
"Josh was brilliant," recalled John. "We got the champagne out and he opened the first bottle, split the cork, stuck a half-crown in it and gave it to me saying: 'Here, I hope this brings you a bit of luck!' - I've still got it."
Foinavon was actually running much closer to the pace the following year under Phil Harvey - John Buckingham had a broken arm - when, ironically, he was brought down at the water. Maybe it is right what they say about using up all your luck.
Kempton gave up training when he stopped riding in 1970. "When I couldn't race-ride any longer I lost enthusiasm for training," he said.
For the rest of his working life he ran a cruise boat delivering divers around the west-country coast and the kicks he used to get from race-riding he still gets from scuba diving, flying his own light plane and touring France on a 1100cc Honda Pan-European motorbike. "It's quite lively," he conceded about the bike.
John's other big winner was San Angelo in the 1967 Grand Annual Chase.
Three days before Foinavon's National, John was getting ready to attend the funeral of his uncle when the phone call, inviting him to ride the horse, came.
As a fifteen-year-old leaving school, he had the choice of becoming a shepherd or a stableboy. Despite never having sat on a horse in his life, he chose the latter and worked in the stables of Edward Courage where his mother was employed as a dairymaid.
Winning the National brought John no financial security nor extra rides: in the 1970-71 season he only rode one winner and, aged 31, he retired from race riding.
Out of the blue, he was offered a job by the Jockey Association.
"They needed another valet" recalled John. "To be honest, it didn't take me very long to make up my mind because I really don't know what I would have done otherwise. And it's a decision that I have never regretted."
Valets are paid by the jockeys. In 1972 valets earned £3.50 for one ride, £2 for the second and a £1 for the rest.
John's National routine as a valet was to leave his neat, estate house in a village just outside Banbury on the Thursday and to find cheap lodgings by Aintree. Having breakfasted at 8.30, he would make his way to the course and spend the day taking care of mostly stressed jockeys.
He built his own valeting business with his brother Tom. He sold it to fellow ex-jockey Chris Maude on Tom's death in 2001.
In 2002 John was diagnosed with diabetes and then underwent surgery to correct a back problem sustained in his riding days. Then John's eyesight began to go, but he was still able to enjoy a game of golf.
1967 was also the year when Red Rum made his first appearance at Aintree, as a two-year-old in a five-furlong sprint, finishing in a dead-heat for first the day before the National. Ten years later, he would return to the same racecourse to secure his unprecedented third Grand National title.
