Saturday, April 3, 1993 was a red-letter day in the history of the Grand National for all the wrong reasons. A disastrous sequence of events began when animal rights protesters invaded Aintree Racecourse, close to the first of the National fences, such that the start of the race was delayed. When the runners did eventually line up, problems with the starting tape caused not one, but two, false starts to be called. Crucially, after calling the second false start, starter Keith Brown waved, but did not unfurl, his red flag, such that it went unnoticed by the recall man, Ken Evans, positioned further down the track, and he took no action to stop the race.
Consequently, 30 of the 39 jockeys set off, oblivious to the fact that the second false start had been called, and continued to race, despite the best efforts of all and sundry to bring the race to a halt. Amid shambolic scenes, in what BBC commentator Sir Peter O’Sullevan described as “one of the greatest disasters in the history of the National”, seven horses – Esha Ness, Cahervillahow, Romany King, The Committee, Givus A Buck, On The Other Hand and Laura’s Beau – completed the course in “the race that surely never was”.
The immediate reaction of “winning” jockey, John White, spoke volumes about the farce that had ensued. He said later, “I could see there were only a few horses around, but I thought the others had fallen or something.” Likewise, “winning” trainer Jenny Pitman was reduced to tears, saying, “This is no Grand National, even though I have won it.” With nine jockeys still waiting at the start, the Jockey Club had little option to declare the Grand National ‘void’, for the first time in its history, forcing bookmakers to refund an estimated £75 million in stake money.