Luke Harvey: ‘It takes a lot to take the wind out of my sails but I felt deflated after National day’

Luke Harvey has said the protests that delayed the Randox Grand National left him upset and deflated.

Harvey was speaking to the Racing Post for a major feature in Sunday’s newspaper giving the inside story of the extraordinary events of last Saturday and how the protestors’ attempts to stop the race were foiled, also featuring contributions from the likes of Nico de Boinville, Ed Chamberlin, the Jockey Club’s Dickon White and many more.

The ITV Racing pundit was in his usual spot ready to speak to jockeys at the first fence when he first became aware of a “commotion” by the perimeter fence.

“There were about 15 people with pink tops on,” he said. “The police were immediately deployed to run over to them. But it looked like that was a diversion because two people who were actually in the enclosure, in civilian clothes if you like, then got on to the track and tried to glue themselves to the second fence. It was only the quick thinking of the groundstaff and maybe the security staff that stopped them doing that. I presume they'd paid to get in.

“It was quite unnerving and I noticed a definite change in the atmosphere. There was a sense that the crowd were starting to turn on the protesters and were shouting at them. It was uncomfortable. The police were doing a fantastic job, and the fence attendants and horse-catchers, everybody there. They were like greyhounds over to that second fence when they realised something was happening.”

Harvey could also sense the change in atmosphere at the start once the race was finally due to begin 15 minutes later than planned, with a heightened sense of anxiety: “I know the race has been late off lots of times but that's been because a horse is being shod or something. No-one's anxious. There was a different feel to this race because of what happened.”

And the events of the day were still affecting the normally effervescent Harvey afterwards, despite the heartwarming victory of Lucinda Russell’s Corach Rambler.

“I love the race and everything about it,” he added. “But on the way home this time, I felt deflated by the whole thing and it takes a lot to take the wind out of my sails. The Grand National has been a big part of my life and to see people trying to ruin it was upsetting."

Read the inside story of the 2023 Grand National in The Big Read, available in Sunday's newspaper or online for Members' Club Ultimate subscribers from 6pm on Saturday. Click here to sign up.

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