Bomb Scare Disrupts Prestigious Horse Race
The 150th running of the prestigious Grand National steeplechase at Aintree race course in Liverpool was postponed Saturday after authorities received two bomb threats, apparently from the Irish Republican Army.
Police said two telephone messages warning that bombs had been primed to explode at the track contained code words used by the IRA.
Saturday was the third day in a row that bombs or bomb threats disrupted life in Britain. Police believe the IRA is conducting a campaign to create fear and economic havoc in the country during the national election campaign, which ends when a new Parliament is elected May 1.
About 60,000 racing fans, including Princess Anne, the only daughter of Queen Elizabeth II, and the actor Gregory Peck, who was celebrating his 81st birthday, were at Aintree to see the famous race, a 38-horse gallop around a 4.5-mile course with 30 fences.
All were evacuated from the stands by the race’s 3:45 p.m. post time, about 45 minutes after police and a local hospital received the two coded telephone messages.
Fans had to leave their vehicles behind, stranding many for the night while police checked the 20,000 cars and hundreds of buses at the racetrack for hidden explosives.
A single stableboy was left in charge of the prized horses.
The Grand National at Aintree attracted a worldwide TV audience of 400 million. Some $120 million had been wagered on the 38 horses.
Police conducted controlled explosions of several suspicious objects found on the grounds. Merseyside police said late Saturday night that no bomb had been found.
The IRA claimed responsibility Thursday for two bombs that forced the closure of three major highways around Birmingham in central England, sparking traffic chaos and the losses of millions of dollars in business.
In London on Friday, bomb threats shut down several subway and train stations. No bombs were found, but traffic in central London was snarled for hours.
On March 26, explosions and warnings caused long delays on major rail routes.
Security already was tight because of the two bombings last week, which were also near Liverpool. For the first time in the race’s 158-year-old history, armed police were on duty.
With thousands of vehicles being held for searches, taxi companies were inundated with calls and extra buses were marshaled to take people the six miles into Liverpool. Makeshift accommodations were set up in local schools and sports centers.
The Church of England opened eight parish halls.
In Dublin, Irish Prime Minister John Bruton said: “Have the leaders of the republican movement stopped to think how their actions at Aintree will make Irish people all over the world feel this evening?”
The IRA resumed hostilities against British rule of Northern Ireland in February 1996 by detonating a bomb in London that killed two men, and resumed attacks in the province in October.
A third of the horses running in Saturday’s race had Irish jockeys, breeders or owners, and the race would have attracted a large TV audience in Ireland as well as in Britain.
Special police from London and other cities in central, northern and northwest England held an anti-terrorism conference Friday to develop strategies and tactics for dealing with the IRA campaign.
Saturday’s scene at Aintree was chaotic as police and track security officials, some with dogs trained to detect explosives, directed fans out of the stands. and other buildings toward parking lots and open ground.
Describing the empty stands, paddock and weight room - and some vandals destroying one of the fences that horses jump over, a BBC television announcer said, “a security alert here at Aintree has caused mayhem.”
Officials said the race would be rescheduled for as early as Monday.