write, now continuing his legacy. i think without it, he would never have actually written anything. the devon loch episode catapulted the name dick francis from the back pages to the front pages. as he said, later in life, he thought that he probably owed more to devon loch s collapse than if he had won the race. but he was always afraid that his epitaph would be here lies the man who didn t win the grand nationai ~ i was only three at the time, but it seems to me that it was quite a miracle that i made it to my fourth birthday, because according to my mother, i would scamper across the sitting room carpet and i would throw my hands out in front and my legs at the back and shout, i m being devon loch, which was probably not very tactful. and, of course, it became part of sporting folklore. became a saying for failing, right at the last. yes, to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory is what doing a devon loch is. it is now used not only in sport but in politics as well, when you c