Devon Loch

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Devon Loch was a famous racehorse.

The horse's most remembered moment by far came in the 1956 Grand National steeplechase, when owned by HM Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. The horse was 45 metres from the winning post and in the lead, when suddenly the horse appeared to jump up and slip over, leaving ESB to overtake and win. Although jockey Dick Francis tried to cajole the horse, it was unable to continue. Afterwards, The Queen Mother famously said "That's racing".

According to some reports, Devon Loch suffered a cramp in the hindquarters and this caused the collapse. However, another report claims that a shadow thrown by the water jump (which horses only traverse on the first circuit of the Aintree course) may have confused Devon Loch into thinking another jump was required and - confused as to whether he should jump or not - he half-jumped and collapsed. It seems likely that such confusion caused him to fail to continue.

Reports that the horse had suffered a heart attack were dismissed, as Devon Loch recovered far too quickly for this to have been the case.

Devon Loch is a metaphor now used in modern day sports and otherwise to explain the sudden, last-minute failure of teams or a sportsman to complete an expected victory, e.g. "United can only hope Chelsea do a Devon Loch collapse." [Daily Telegraph].

Devon Loch was put down during or shortly after a cold winter in 1963.