The Winner

Amberleigh House

Recent trends tell us that 12 year olds do-not win Nationals; Horses that have run in the race before do-not win Nationals. Well nobody told Amberleigh House. This horse ran a blinder this year to come out on top. What's more there was no fluke here, he had problems in running and was not where his jockey wanted him to be throughout the race, he jumped every fence, which 20 of his rivals did not. The old boy simply did his best again on his favourite course and in the end he was staying on when others were going up and down on the spot. He came through when needed and gave all his connections a well-deserved win in the race. It was great today to hear the crowd all in full voice. If you weren't on Clan Royal then you were shouting for Amberleigh House, this is the stuff that makes Aintree legends. Everybody is aware that Ginger McCain the trainer behind Red Rums three wins is the trainer of Amberleigh House and that was the reason why I did not here one person make any negative comment about the horses win. Guts, determination, a love of the course, and the will to win were all in view today when this horse came up the long run in to capture the worlds greatest steeplechase. He has run over these fences 6 times before and always looked good and the only time he did not get round was no his fault he was brought down. His trainer expects him to be back next year for another crack, well all his connections should celebrate now and enjoy this year because horses don't come back and win again, but don't tell Amberleigh House or Ginger they don't respect stats they just break them.

Ginger McCain

Donald McCain who's he? He's the man who trained Red Rum, oh you mean Ginger, yes we mean Ginger. A well respected trainer who now has re-gained the title king of Aintree. Nobody in the world knows more about what it takes to win The World Greatest Steeplechase. It was good to see Ginger in the winner's enclosure at this meeting again. Ginger has been a trainer since 1952 when he took out his first permit and now at the age of 73 and with nothing else to prove in the race you would think retirement would be on the cards well Ginger said "I did think that if I won the national again I'd consider it, but bugger it I might just squeeze another one in". Despite these words Ginger was quite to praise his son Donald Jr. and said that it was his son who has put in the bulk of the work riding out the horse and getting him fit and there is also another McCain Sian, Donald jr's wife who looks after the horse who also needs a mention. As you can see this is a team affair and in the future when the great man retires then Donald will get all the limelight he deserves but right now it's Ginger the toast of The Grand National.

Graham Lee

graham_leeGraham, was not even born when Red Rum won his first two nationals, but this jockey is having the best season of his life this year and this is the icing on the cake. Graham is a good jockey who has had some good wins but as he rides many horses in the north of the country he can sometime be overlooked. His big race wins include his win in the Becher chase on this horse. He did not have everything his own way today but he did not panic and even when coming to the end of the race and saw he was some way behind he did not panic he was behind but he thought and hoped that because of the fast pace that the leaders would tire and he knew his horse would stay and so it was to be his horse kept on while the others tired. He rode a great race today and who knows, maybe he'll do it again next year.

Second Place

Clan Royal

Clan Royal was trying to make it four in a row but he found one too good today. He ran a blinder of a race and jumped well until he reached five from home when a blunder allowed his jockey to lose his whip. Coming to the last fence he reached at it when in the lead and was a little untidy and as he had by then given all he could he started to wander about the wide course and he was passed by the winner but he kemp on well to finish a good runner up. It was perhaps a strange feeling having to submit first place to a horse he had beaten over these fences earlier in the year but the was no shame today in getting beat as he did everything he could to win but just found one too good today. At 9 he will be back for another crack at the race and who knows he might just go one better. He will almost certainly defend his crown at the course in the Tote Becher next season also.

Jonjo O'Neill

Jonjo is becoming one of the best trainers around. He took over the reigns at Jackdaws Castle where he has stamped his own style on one of the best horse training facility in the country. He is getting more winners all the time. Jonjo is probably still best know for riding Dawn Run to victory in the Champion Hurdle and also the gold cup but soon he could be known for even greater events in training.

Graham Lee

Liam Cooper is the stable jockey to Jonjo and as such has a great future ahead of him. He will find himself riding the best horses and why not, he is a god race judge as he showed today when even after loosing his whip he still managed to obtain the best place that the horse could have gained. There will be a lot more winners for Liam and his future looks bright.

Third Place

Lord Atterbury

Lord_Atterbury The real amateur in the race, with four hunter chases under his belt. He was strongly fancied to win the Hunter Chase at Cheltenham at the Festival however he disappointed that day and was pulled up. Today he was back on song, this time trained by M.Pipe who took over from his amateur training son. Lord Atterbury ran a really good race despite hitting a few fences he ran bravely throughout the race. He finished tiered but has the right to with four and a half miles covered at racing speed. 8 years old he is sure to win more races and is another who will try another crack at the race, lets hope the handicapper is not too heavy on him for this fine run.

Martin Pipe

Martin Pipe has won the trainers title on many occasions and it one of the best trainers around. He has lots of horses and lots of runners and he also gets lots of winners. After this meeting he was top of the trainers title race again. He has broken almost every record that it is possible to break and shows no sign of slowing down. He often does well with horses from other stable and usually finds improvement in them.

M.Bradbourne

Mark Bradbourne is a fine jockey. He does not get his fair share of rides and showed today that with a good horse he can do well. He was a little unlucky in 1999 when his mother trained a fine horse called Blue Charm and he was set to ride however he was injured and Lorcan Wyer stepped in that day to be second, it must have been heart breaking for him but he was very gallant in his comments after the race. He is a good jockey and seems like a very nice man. He deserves to win a really big race like this. He will surly win more races when he gets the chance.

Fourth Place

Monty's Pass

Last year winner ran a cracker again, If not for the huge hike in the weights it could all have been so different. He ran his heart out today and although 34 lengths behind the winner he was carrying a stone more in weight. He hasn't really shown his best this year yet but of course he was trained with today in mind and it all paid off with a great run. He was always in touch with the leaders right up until about 4 from home when his weight burden started to tell however he did not give up and finished with great credit. A fine run from the reining champion.

J. Mangan

One of the smaller trainers in Ireland James Mangan is a fine man who tasted success with this horse last year. He was very happy with the horses run and so he should be he did very well to get this horse here again in the peak of his form. He's another who will be back next year or maybe the connections will try a crack at one of the other nationals.

Barry Geraghty

Barry rode a fine race today. He kept the horse in touch for as long as he could and kept the horse going when he started to slow down. He rode the horse sympathetically and got the best from him. Barry is a fine rider who is at the top of his form. He is the regular jockey for this horse and another champion in the form of the two miler Moscow Flyer. Barry is a top jockey and as such gets good rides and never seems to lose with a horse that has a winning chance.