NOBLE PRIZE WINNER
Crowning glory at Aintree for dentist Sam who lands National on very last ride
SAM WALEY-COHEN won the world’s greatest steeplechase on his very last ride as Noble Yeats lifted the Randox Grand National at Aintree yesterday.
The bookies cheered as the 50-1 chance, trained by Emmet Mullins – nephew of Ireland’s champion trainer Willie – and owned by the jockey’s father, Robert, beat 15-2 favourite Any Second Now.
Waley-Cohen, a prolific winner in the point-to-point field who first rode under Rules in February 2000, announced as the Grand National meeting began on Thursday that the seven-year-old would be the final mount of a stellar amateur career in the saddle.
And the 39-year-old, winner of the Cheltenham Gold Cup on Long Run in 2011, saved the best for last as Noble Yeats, headed by Any Second Now jumping the final fence, fought back to score by two-and-aquarter lengths.
“I’ve said for ages, ‘If I win the Grand National, I will retire and give dad my boots in the winner’s enclosure,” said WaleyCohen who combined race-riding with running a chain of 250 dental practices.
“I think when you have a ride like that and it goes as well as that you’d be wise to stick to what you said. “We came here thinking, ‘The sun’s out, it’s your last ride – go and have a nice spin. No expectations, no instructions. Just enjoy it.
Waley-Cohen, credited with rekindling the romance between the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge after a split at Edinburgh University, was scoring over the Grand National course for the seventh time.
His saddle for every mount of his career bears the initials of his brother Thomas, who lost a decade-long battle with bone cancer in 2004.
“When you lose somebody you love and you lose them when you’re young, you make the most of life and try and put a lot of energy into every day, because you don’t know if that’s going to be your last day,” he added.
Waley-Cohen Snr, who bought Noble Yeats with the
aim of running in the National after the horse ran second at Wetherby in February, added: “We’ve had a huge amount of fun.
“When Sam was riding Long Run, I got a lot of stick from people who said, ‘Put a pro on’.
“I kept saying, ‘If you feel like that, lay him – you’ll lose a lot of money!’
“I’m incredibly proud and really sad.
“We will keep going, even though we will have to book a jockey, which will feel really weird!” For Mullins, 32, the triumph came with his first National runner and was the first for a seven-year-old since Bogskar won in 1940.
“Stats are there to be broken,” said Mullins. “It’s a great start – it’s going to be hard to keep this rate up!”
Ted Walsh saluted his horse’s gallant second place. “He jumped and he travelled well,” he said.
But there was to be no repeat of last year’s triumph for Rachael Blackmore and Minella Times as the partnership came asunder at the ninth of the 30 obstacles.
Reacting to the outcome, William Hill’s Tony Kenny said: “The victory was an excellent result for the trading room, with Noble Yeats one of the 40 runners who was not fancied.
“It’s looking like being one of the top five results we could have hoped for.”