What I would give to win the National

Success at Aintree can be a dream come true but, for some illustrious names, missing out on the big day has turned into a nightmare

“It’s every kid’s dream to win the National, so who knows what I would have given. The first time I was second, on Young Driver [1986] I was delighted, it was really exciting, but by the second and third time I was starting to think it just wasn’t going to happen for me. If Rhyme ’n’ Reason had fallen at Becher’s in 1988 – he was down on his belly at the fence – then I am sure I would have won. Durham Edition went past him at the second-last, but he battled back and got me on the run-in. A couple of years later I waited until The Elbow but we just couldn’t get past Mr Frisk. It’s one of those things. It just wasn’t meant to be.” “At the time I was riding in it, it was definitely more of a lottery. Getting around was what you would be hoping for, and to win it was only something you dreamed about. Now, I think if you were riding a well-handicapped horse, you could fancy your chances. I finished seventh and fifth on Master Oats, but he was carrying nearly 12st and he was the Cheltenham Gold Cup winner in 1995. Amazingly, he only had 10st when I rode him in the National the year before, so thinking about it he must have been a stone-cold certainty. I was second in 2000 on Mely Moss. To get so close to winning hurt, but I knew Papillon and Ruby Walsh well and they just out-battled us on the run-in.” “I’d love to say that I’d have given anything to win it, but I’m afraid it just didn’t bother me. I haven’t given it a second thought. It’s obviously a great race, they say it changes your life, but I’m not sure it really would have to me. It isn’t everything – if you win it, you win it. I finished second on Rough And Tumble in 1980 and third on him in 1979, but I think that was probably just as good as he was. The one time I thought I could have won it was on Golden Rapper in 1976. We were leading until Becher’s Brook second time around, when we fell. I woke up in Fazakerley Hospital, so I didn’t even know where I was, let alone having time to think about what might have been.”