Gordon Elliot's Tiger Roll pipped Willie Mullins' Pleasant Company in a photo finish to win the 2018 Grand National on a great day for Irish horseracing.
Davy Russell rode a horse that owner Michael O'Leary once referred to as 'a little rat of a thing' to victory as Russell claimed his first career win at the Grand National.
Elliott’s Bless The Wings hung on to finish third while A.J. Martin's Anibale Fly finished in fourth to make claim the first four places for Irish horses.
Meanwhile Neil King's Milansbar and Noel Meade's Road To Riches placed thereafter to extend the Irish dominance to the first six horses to finish.
Russell said he had visualised the race a thousand times in his head before Saturday's Grand National but none of his visualisations mirrored what transpired in the actual race.
"I did have a big fear," Russell told the BBC. "That would have been heart breaking. I was thinking of my mum and my kids.
"I've won this race thousands of times in my head and I've never won it like I've done today."
This week on your favourite horse racing podcast, The Paddock, we’re joined by Oli Bell, Rishi Persad, Tom Stanley and a post-Cheltenham Dan Skelton. The panel dives straight into a festival debrief, including Dan’s winners at the festival and UK trainers closing the gap on Ireland. Dan also takes us through the not so small […]
A decision has been made. One of the biggest stories from Cheltenham this year was the row between jockeys Nico de Boinville and Declan Queally. After a false start during the Turners Novices’ Hurdle on the second day of the festival, De Boinville was seen berating Queally for taking his space on the inside ahead of […]
Not a good look. Five Irish jockeys have been issued whip bans by the British Horse Racing Authority’s Whip Review Committee, following the Cheltenham Festival. JJ Slevin, who won the Stayers’ Hurdle on the Joseph O’Brien trained Home By The Lee, has banned for 14 days, after using is whip twice above the allowed rate […]