Noble Yeats, a 50-1 shot, wins the Grand National on amateur jockey Sam Waley-Cohen’s final ride
Noble Yeats, trained by Emmet Mullins and ridden by amateur jockey Sam Waley-Cohen on his retirement ride, has won the Grand National at Aintree.
Any Second Now, the 15-2 favourite, was runner-up and Delta Work finished third. Santini was in fourth place.
‘I can’t say anything but that’s a dream,’ Waley-Cohen said. ‘It has been a love affair, they aren’t all good days. There are bad days in this sport. That is beyond what I was thinking, it’s a fairytale and a fantasy.’
Waley-Cohen’s father Robert, Noble Yeats’ owner, was overcome by emotion in the immediate aftermath.
‘I’m really emotional,’ he told ITV. ‘I’m lost for words, unbelievable. Fabulous. It’s a team and thank God it has really worked. He has so much dedication and puts in so much hard work.’
Trainer Emmet Mullins said: ‘We were probably more confident a month ago – the closer we got, the more other people were talking about their chances. But the form was there.’
Rachael Blackmore’s Minella Times, last year’s winner, did not finish.
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Noble Yeats (right), a 50-1 shot, won the Grand National at Aintree on Saturday afternoon
