The Grand National Fences, from the saddle, with Ron Hyett

Former national hunt jockey gives an insight into the course and the fences of the Aintree Grand National.

To find a jockey from the era I am writing about, who could take us around the course was a difficult task, therefore I approached a former colleague who competed in five Grand Nationals between 1974 and 1980.

Ron Hyett, maybe not one of the better known of his era, however, I do know that most will agree with me that Ron was a most accomplished jockey. In 1972 he rode a double at the Cheltenham Festival for Mrs Katie Gaze, who trained at Sellack, Herefordshire. Even Dawn in the Sun Alliance Novices Hurdle and Cold Day to win the County Handicap Hurdle.

He was for myself, not only a jockey but is also a most formidable horseman.

Ron’s first National ride was in 1974 when he partnered Michael Scudamore trained Estoile. Horse and rider coming to grief at the nineteenth fence, named Westhead, the first open ditch after passing the starting gate.

His next ride came two years later, in 1976, when Stan Wright gave Ron the ride on Sandwilan. Ron gave the horse a superb ride to finish the course in seventh place. The partnership stayed together for the 1977 race also but Sandwilan decided that enough was enough for the day refusing at Becher’s Brook on the second circuit (22^nd fence) and unseating his jockey in the process.

Sandwilan ran in two further Grand Nationals, each time ridden by female jockey Jenny Henbrow, in 1979 they fell at the first fence and in 1980 the partnership was hampered and subsequently refused again at Becher’s Brook.

Ron, in 1979 rode Kick On for Keith Lewis, the 50/1 chance was bought down at the Chair.

The following year that, 1980, Ron was approached by Fred Rimell to ride The Pilgarlic, the most horses seemed to be able to gallop forever, who had already been placed fourth twice already in 1977 and 1979, in between those two runs finishing fifth in 1978. The partnership proved to be most successful, finishing third behind Ben Nevis, ridden by the American banker Charlie Fenwick and champion jockey John Francome on Rough and Tumble.

On to the race.

It’s quite a relief to the system once horse and jockey finally leave the parade ring, so many people and horses in such a confined area can be unsettling for both horse and rider. It can be a daunting time for the jockeys, too much time to think, added to that it seems to take forever.

By the time the parade of runners go past the stand, do a U-turn, canter back passed the stands, more often than not by this time the horses are quite wound up.

The journey down to the first fence is one heck of a long way in comparison to any other race in the calendar, but this does have its advantage of giving the riders nerves time to settle down and getting well away from the throng of the crowd is a blessed relief, good to at last be on the move. The crowds do get the horses more jacked up than they would at an everyday race meeting. In Ron’s day the crowds were so much closer and had more access to be closer to the runners than they do these days. That in itself could be quite unnerving at times. All of those factors added to the atmosphere, so much more electric than it is now maybe.

After showing the horses the first fence we would, as has never changed over the years, canter back to the start gate.

Then after having the girths checked and any other issues dealt with the starter would call us in. Ron firmly believes that Jockeys of his era had more respect for the starter than maybe those of today. Not in one of the Nationals Ron contended was there a false start, broken tape or any indication of there may be a chance of one. They did, however, have one bad experience at the start when animal rights activists got onto the track. However, apart from that, all starts were off first time. Ron’s thoughts are that as much as the jockeys, the starter also has a job to do, it was always considered that a part of the jockey’s job before the race got under way was to listen to the starter and comply with his orders, when all said and done he was not calling the horses back for no reason or just for the sake of being heard.

Once the flag is dropped and the tapes go up there is the inevitable charge to the first, every jockey trying to get a run advantageous to himself and his horse. The trouble has always been, up to and including this day, that the jockeys get carried away with the flow of the occasion, it cannot be helped, they know they are going too fast into the first fence, but that changes nothing. It will always be the same for years to come as it has been for years gone by. As the first fence approaches ones first objective is to get your horse to sit back on their hocks in order to take the obstacle and get away from it cleanly.

The first six or seven are drop fences and because of the speed they are going most horses tend to over jump them, which results in quite landing ungainly at the very least. What is termed as on their heads.

The second fence is much the same as the first, still not steadying the speed, the main concern is getting over it safely.

The third is a massive ditch, the reason that it does not look as big as the Chair is solely because, unlike the chair, that is a more compact fence, it is the width of the course, the funnel effect that the Chair possesses also makes it look more daunting to the eye.

Once the third has been negotiated safely Ron would find that the pace seemed to ease to a more sensible and even gallop. Both horse and jockey coming to their normal racing senses.

The fourth and fifth fences are both drop fences. Once they are negotiated the majority of the field tends to drift to the right as they approach Becher’s Brook, the sixth fence, the reason for this being that the drop is not the so prominent toward the outside of the track. This fence always seems to catch a good few out. In the sixties and seventies it was more of a sit back fence, jockeys on the buckle end of the reins as they land and having to regather the reins after. These days with the alterations that have been made for safety reasons it is not such a challenging fence to either horse or rider as much as it used to be, but still one that has to be thought about and respected. Ron recalls that it seemed to take an eternity from the moment of take off to the landing of feet on grass and moving off again to the next fence.

Once you have taken on and beaten Becher’s the seventh is found to be ridiculously small in comparison. Maybe that was what caused the problem initially in 1967 with the pile up, the seventh now being known as the Foinavon fence. Once the fence is jumped there is a slight left turn to be found that can put some horses off their stride.

Now one’s wits have to come into play, approaching is the eighth fence, best known to all as the Canal Turn. One must swing out to the right to take this fence. The danger is if one does jump towards the inner, those then coming from the outer after landing and taking the turn will give no room whatsoever for manoeuvre, this can cause extreme chaos, especially for those riding the race for the first time and do not judge the fence correctly. Another thing to think about is the fact that it is not advisable to stand off the fence and jump it too well either, because then the landing can be too far out, which results in the right angled turn even more problematic. Again Ron advises the best way to ride the Canal Turn is to go with the flow, the best result being all swinging out and coming at the same time. But as with anything you will always get one or two who do not adhere to the sensible approach, so if one does not have their wits about them it could so easily result in getting squashed on the inner at the turn.

Before having time to gather breath from the rigours of the eighth, the next is Valentines Brook, the first in a row of four very large fences. In actual fact they are much bigger than one anticipates them to be, they are massive. By this time the horses are more settled and in the main jumping well, having adjusted to the contents of the fences in relation to normal park fences they are used to. With the field hunting round for the first circuit rather than racing, none really tearing away from the field. They are back on their hocks when jumping and the jockeys back in control unlike for the first three or four obstacles.

During the first circuit the fences tend to jump okay, despite their size, good straight fences, apart from Valentines which has a ditch to contend with, if the horse does not get right to the bottom of the fence before taking off there would usually be no problem in getting over it safely.

After taking the row of four safely and most do, one can relax for a while, take a short breather, crossing the Melling Road, a nice sedate gallop in comparison to the pace at the beginning of the race.

There is a long, a very long run to the next fence, taking the turn into what would be the home straight next time round and there are two relatively small fences that are the second and last fences on the second circuit.

Following the two smaller fences the field swings away to the right and looming as large as life the chair comes into view, the field if strung out across the course has to come together as the approach is like a funnel with both sides of the fence adorned with large white wooden wings to guide the horses and riders into the fence. Which if there are still twenty or thirty runners still standing and in close contention can get quite congested, one hopes not to fall if in the front part of the field that is for sure.

Ron recalls that he was most fortunate with his first ride in the race, riding Estoile for trainer Michael Scudamore in 1974, he had the fortune of riding for a man who had an abundance of experience in the race and talked him through the course a few days before the race, so therefore the perfect mentor as far as Ron was concerned. The added bonus also of having ridden the mare before in a long distance race at Cheltenham and having finished third, which was a great help in knowing the horses ability and idiosyncrasies also, if any.

“She was a funny old thing” quotes Ron, “she used to tail herself off in a race, never on the bridle and then when having covered a couple of miles she would suddenly pick up the bridle. She did exactly that in the National, she went off the bridle, jumping everything with ease and she was a super jumper at that. As we swung away from the stands she picked up the bridle, jumped the first after the water, because she was now on the bridle she got it into her head it would be easy sailing from then on but landed on top of the fence. Ron is adamant that had she stayed off the bridle she would have finished the race with no problem.”

After the chair comes to the water, in those days every course in the country had a water jump, unlike now and therefore at that time the horses were used to it. But then again at Liverpool, the water feature itself was longer than most, it was an obstacle that caught many out because after the massive obstacles prior it was not unusual for a horse to underestimate it and invariably there would be one or two that would get caught out and drop their hind legs in the drink. It was not therefore uncommon to get splashed quite significantly at this jump.

Then another long run to the next after turning away from the stands and travel out into the country for a second time. This is where those still standing and running have the opportunity to get themselves into a position. They have negotiated the first circuit and those that have been just hunting round, which was usually most, are now thinking about getting arranged in order to start riding a race.

Ron confides that on the second circuit he would never look to jump any fence where the birch had been dislodged earlier, because lower down in the fences make up, there were great beams of wood and stakes to hold the birch in place. Taking such a gap in the fence may result in the horse not getting up as high as one would hope, which is quite feasible as far as the horses is concerned, the results could be catastrophic if one hit a stake or the beam of wood. Ron has much admiration for the fence builders of Aintree racecourse, the fences always built to perfection. The work put in between the Foxhunters and the Topham to get them again race perfect for the National must be long and painstaking. The unsung heroes of the Grand National are without doubt the fence builders.

Whilst discussing the fence builders, Ron mentions how amazing it is how much the birch flies around as the fences are jumped when horse in front and around you hit the birch. It goes between the saddle and the horse, one can only imagine how uncomfortable that must be for the horse during the race. Jockeys can be brushing birch from under their knees, birch in the tops of the boots. All of this adds to everything else going on around as one is trying to concentrate on the fences and the race itself. I just wonder how many disgruntled punters realise what goes on during races and the problems both horse and jockey have to endure. Ron carries on to add that even after the race when unsaddling, birch seems to be found everywhere, entwined in the breast plate and similar.

Another distraction during the second circuit, these days it is not so much as they have run offs, but in the sixties and seventies loose horses could get onto the inner of the course and the sound of horses galloping on the road for cars and ambulances could be quite distracting, especially when virtually alongside you.

Also at Liverpool one was more aware of the crowds more than any other course, even Cheltenham. Ron again recalls as he approached the home turn the crowd was much more noticeable than even when riding a winner at the Cheltenham Festival, much more intense. At Liverpool because of the stands out in the country the noise is constant. Especially at Becher’s and the Canal Turn, because those spectators cheer most enthusiastically as those fences are jumped.

At this point I asked Ron, when riding the Pilgarlic, what was the feeling when realising he was in such a good position.

During the first circuit we were not at any time in any contention, in fact nearer the back than the front of the field.

To be honest, not at any time did we get a blow-in on Charlie Fenwick’s mount. In actual fact at Becher’s second time round I did not believe he could keep galloping as he was, he definitely surprised me.

I was trying to keep a bit in hand, I truly thought the leader Ben Nevis would come back to us, at the same time I realised I was never going to catch John Francome on Rough and Tumble, the only way I was going to finish in front of him was if he either made a massive blunder or actually fell. It was unbelievable the pace that Ben Nevis was keeping up, he was absolutely relentless, he was thriving on the heavy ground.

With afterthought Ron realises that it was a good thing that he had tried to save a bit earlier on, instead of chasing the winner. Because, as we approached and went down the run in The Pilgarlic was a spent horse and did amazingly well just to finish the race at all.

There was actually a moment at Valentine’s that I did ask him to chase up the leaders, but as you well know it was a lost cause.

As we went to the last the old boy was absolutely unconscious, I was actually most surprised and thankful that he did not in fact refuse to take the last, he felt as though he was on his very last legs, but his honesty and courage would not allow him to do so. That run in is the most gruelling it knocks the stuffing out of any horse.

So there it is a jockey’s glimpse of the National fences.

Ron answered all question superbly, if it had been too technical the feeling is it would not have been so interesting and easy to write.

But then Ron Hyett has always been one heck of a narrator of stories, our thanks to him.