Rank outsider Mon Mome joined Foinavon in 1967 as only the second 100-1 shot to win the Grand National with an empathic 12 lengths victory at Aintree on Saturday.
A dozen horses were in contention with two fences remaining of the famous four and a half mile steeplechase until jockey Liam Treadwell, having his first ride in the race, drove Mon Mome clear. Last year’s winner Comply or Die, ridden by Timmy Murphy, finished second with My Will, with two-time National winner Ruby Walsh aboard, in third. But the race had a tragic end as last year’s Irish National winner Hear The Echo collapsed and died having been pulled up at the last fence. Mone Mome’s trainer Venetia Wiliams became only the second woman after the legendary Jenny Pitman to train the winner of jump racing’s most famous event. She paid tribute to her young jockey after the upset victory. “I am just so proud of Liam (Treadwell) and the team who have done a fantastic job,” she told BBC Sport. “It is an unbelievable feeling,” said 23-year-old Treadwell. “This horse is so genuine, it is absolutely unbelievable.” 17 horses finished the gruelling test, which begun with two false starts, raising fears of a repeat of the fiasco in 1993 when the race was declared null and void. But once the action started, 13-time champion jockey Tony McCoy was again out of luck as he finished seventh on favorite Butler’s Cabin. The previous 100-1 winner Foinavon took advantage of a mass pile up in the 1967 race at a fence now named after him, avoiding the chaos among the leaders to score an unexpected victory. Mon Mome certainly needed no such luck and immediately earned a 33-1 quote with leading bookmakers to win next year’s Grand National.
