Former jockey Mick Fitzgerald was on the Saturday Panel to talk about the Grand National, and reflected on the 1997 race, which was delayed by a bomb scare.
Fitzgerald won the race the previous year on 'Rough Quest' and was riding the favourite, 'Go Ballistic'.
However, the race didn't take place that day after an IRA bomb scare, as Fitzgerald recalled.
"The race before the Grand National was the Martell Hurdle which is a big Grade One, and I won it on a horse called Bimsey for Aidan Ryan and Reg Akehurst. I was on a high. So I had to get changed into the colours of Go Ballistic, then went and weighed out and as soon as I weighed out I came back in. I was having a drink, because I was sweating to do a light weight on him. I was having a drink and somebody said to me, 'you've got to go'."
"And I went, how do you mean 'you have got to go', it's 15 minutes before the race?"
"And they said, 'no no, you've got to leave now'. I had my britches and boots and the colours of Go Ballistic on me and that was it. And my jacket. And we were gone, we had to leave."
It was a very worrying and confusing situation for jockeys, racegoers and viewers. It soon turned bizarre, as Fitzgerald went looking for his father.
"We had to try and find somewhere to go. We ended up going down the road and there was a house which had a lot of people in it. My Dad had come with me the year before and I thought he was a good luck charm then, so he came again the following year. I used to drop him off in the morning and he'd come to the weighing room when I'd be finished at the end of the day. I don't know how many thousand people there were that day and I was wondering how I was going to find my Dad. I went to this lady's house just down the road from the racecourse and there he was serving tea! It was surreal, it all felt very strange."
The postponement of the race until the Monday meant Fitzgerald had to change his sleeping arrangements, which conjured a colourful image in the centre of Liverpool.
"We had no digs because the plan is to always finish riding and go home. I ended up getting a room at the Adelphi Hotel and we actually had a party that night in the Adeplhi. There were lads going around dressed as jockeys who were actually jockeys. They weren't dressed as jockeys, they were jockeys, still dressed in their gear, in the nightclub."
The Grand National was eventually won two days later by 'Lord Gyllene'.
You can watch the full Saturday Panel chat with Mick Fitzgerald, Jimmy Mangan and presenter John Duggan below.
Download the brand new OffTheBall App in the Play Store & App Store right now! We've got you covered!
Subscribe to OffTheBall's YouTube channel for more videos, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for the latest sporting news and content.
