All the while Mullins was creeping into contention on Rule The World, and after a good jump at the last Morris’ horse stayed on best for a fantastic victory.
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Every trainer who leads in a Grand National victor has achieved something extraordinary, but Morris can feel particularly proud of himself for preparing Rule The World, a horse that had never previously won a race over fences, to take the most demanding race of all.
Christopher Morris died from suspected Carbon Monoxide poisoning while travelling South America in June, leaving the family devastated. “It’s unbelievable. I couldn’t expect things to have gone any better”, he told the BBC.
“That’s the best ride I’ve ever got off a horse and it’s the best feeling to come back into a place like this”.
And following such a fine effort from a horse just eight-years-olds having just his ninth start over fences, he will definitely be back at Aintree in 12 months time to try and go one better.
“Everything went to plan for the first lap, and I was just trying to keep the rhythm that we had all the way round, then at the fourth-last I sent him and he put down – he was a bit cleverer than me, but thankfully that was all that went wrong”.
But he only got the ride on the horse owned by Gigginstown Stud, set up by budget airline RyanAir’s founder Michael O’Leary by chance.
The other co-favourite Many Clouds, looking to become the first horse since Red Rum to win the National in successive years, ran out of steam under Leighton Aspell, who was hoping to become the first jockey to win the race three years in a row. He won the Timico Cheltenham Gold Cup with Don Cossack, the Irish Grand National with Rogue Angel – also trained by Mouse Morris – and now the Crabbie’s Grand National.
Trainer Kim Bailey said of The Last Samuri: “Nothing is over until they cross the line, the horse tried his heart out and he jumped for fun”. I thought we’d used up all our luck.
He said the the heavy storm that affected Aintree mid-afternoon on Saturday had made the already rain-softened ground even deeper, leading to a gruelling Grand National in which just 16 of 39 horses finished.
“It’s the longest run-in you can possibly imagine”.
They must have lost 20 lengths, the horse tried so hard and it was a great run.
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Elon Musk’s revolutionary electric vehicle company Tesla is the official auto partner of the races this year and will be transporting people from Aintree’s auto parks to the course in the luxury of a Model S.
