Corach Rambler, the 8-1 favourite, overcame circumstance, controversy and all competition to win a dramatic Randox Aintree Grand National on Saturday.
The Scottish-trained star had half a dozen Irish-trained opponents trying to chase him down in the closing stages but held on to give Sligo-born jockey Derek Fox and trainer Lucinda Russell a second victory in the world’s most famous steeplechase, six years after One For Arthur.
Irish domination since then came to an end although perhaps the most important result of all on Saturday was the race going ahead.
Just over 20 minutes before the official 5.15 “off” time, animal rights protesters threatened to bring the biggest day in the racing calendar to a halt after accessing the track and trying to glue or tie themselves to some of the fences.
Willie Mullins set to take wraps off some of his biggest stars at Punchestown
Fact To File could head formidable JP McManus team into John Durkan test
Top amateur Derek O’Connor to team up with Fastorslow for John Durkan Chase at Punchestown
Stuzzikini puts seal on Gordon Elliott dominance with 20-1 Troytown success
Merseyside police made six arrests after clashes with a number of people in pink clothing who breached security in order to protest against the National being staged. Three other arrests had been made earlier in the day.
The race was officially delayed at 5.05 with some of the 39 runners moved from the parade ring back to the pre-parade ring. The big-race jockeys were kept in the weigh-room. However, fears the race might have to be cancelled proved unfounded.
Once the track had been cleared the Aintree authorities accelerated the preliminaries and the National eventually started just 14 minutes late.
In an incident-packed race, Fox, who’d passed a morning medical examination after a shoulder injury sustained in a spill last week, once again showed his Aintree prowess and delivered a perfect outcome to a nerve-racking 175th renewal of the famous race.
An early bid for glory by the 33-1 outsider Mister Coffey briefly looked like it might succeed but with the pack closing him down it was obvious Corach Rambler was going best of all.
Almost aptly for the day in it, the quirky dual-Cheltenham Festival winner, who was officially 10lbs “well in” on handicap ratings, looked far from straightforward in front up the long run-in.
Fox was hanging on as Gavin Cromwell’s 20-1 shot Vanillier closed the gap to just over two lengths but Corach Rambler found the line in time.
“He is just the most wonderful thing ever, he deserved to win this. I got a fall last week and banged my shoulder, it was far from ideal. I was worried all week, I thank God I was back in time because it was the thrill of my life to ride him,” Fox said.
“It’s thanks to the support of Lucinda and Scu (Peter Scudamore, assistant trainer and Russell’s partner) for having the faith in me to put me up after not riding all week. I feel very lucky to be working for these great people.
“I think he’d the profile and he’s loads of class – I just can’t believe it,” the Irishman said.
It was another landmark success for Russell who trains from a comparative racing outpost in Kinross between Edinburgh and Perth.
She said it was a close run thing Fox made the big day although inevitably though the context of Corach Rambler’s success dominated the immediate fallout.
“Those guys that went out to protest on the course, they think it’s about horse welfare but that horse loves the sport. He loves everything that he does. He’s kept in the best condition and I’m just so delighted that he can run in a race like that and perform like that,” she said.
“He has got greatness and it’s what he deserves. Corach Rambler, in our hearts, is just the best horse. Now in the public hearts he is as well.
“To win the National, I know how important it is, I know how it changed my life with [One For] Arthur – for Corach to achieve that too is just fantastic.
“It’s all about the horse, for me it’s not about the betting – though I did back him and quite a lot actually!
“I hope those guys who were protesting will look at our website and our Facebook posts and see how they are looked after. It is so important they understand how we care for them every inch of the way.
“It is about Corach, he is just amazing. He took to those fences brilliantly, he understood them, he worked them out – he loved it,” Russell added.
[ Three people held over potential for disruption to Grand National racingOpens in new window ]
It was a much more sombre outcome for another Scottish runner as the Sandy Thomson trained Hill Sixteen had to be put down after falling at the first fence. A total of 17 of the 39 National runners finished the race. The Willie Mullins trained Dark Ravan also sustained fatal injuries in an earlier hurdle race at Aintree.
It was a landmark Saturday too for another Russell as the former triple-champion jockey Davy Russell definitively brought the curtain down on his career.
The 43-year-old who retired in December, made a quick comeback weeks later, and admitted to feeling he was done after Cheltenham last month, also fell at the first in the National on Galvin but earlier secured another Grade 1 on Gordon Elliott’s Irish Point in the Mersey Hurdle.
“This will be my last day. I’m 43 years of age and Jack [Kennedy] was waiting to take over the mantle, then unfortunately Jack got injured.
“Sam [Ewing] and Jordan [Gainford] were there, but we just felt we’d ease them in rather than just land it on them. If they had as bad a Cheltenham as I had, I’m not sure they’d have took it as well as I did. It served its purpose,” he said.
“My wife was very upset after Cheltenham. We’ve had so much success and Cheltenham just wasn’t really a happy place for me this year. I enjoyed it, but it just didn’t end up the way we would have liked.
“In between my wife and Gordon, they wanted me to end on a better note,” Russell added.
His last ever ride saw him finish fifth on Pour Les Filles for Elliott in the concluding bumper at Aintree won by Florida Dreams.
Elliott was also a Grade 1 winner as the Stayers champion Sire Du Berlais recorded back-to-back successes in the Liverpool Hurdle.
Out of luck in the National, JP McManus also scored at Grade 1 level on Saturday as Jonbon justified cramped 2-11 odds in the opening Maghull Novices Chase.
