Sam Waley-Cohen: My joy at winning the Randox Grand National

A Corinthian is defined as “involving the highest standards of amateur sportsmanship”. That certainly applies to Sam Waley-Cohen, who retired from the saddle in a blaze of glory with victory in the Grand National on Saturday.

He achieved more than many riders do in their professional careers, despite combining his racecourse outings with running a successful chain of dental practices that number over 200 spread across the UK, Ireland and Benelux – an economic union comprising Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.

Son of Felicity and Robert, whose colours he has sported in victory at the highest of levels, Waley-Cohen completed a Masters in Politics at Edinburgh University before going on to work for an international agricultural business ahead of establishing his own firm – Portman Dental Care – in 2008.

He married his wife Annabel in 2011, with none other than the Duchess of Cambridge among the guests at the ceremony.

Waley-Cohen was famously pictured with the then Kate Middleton at a charity fundraiser in 2008, with the future queen donning roller skates at an event to raise money for the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, where Sam’s brother Thomas was treated for cancer before he died in 2004 and a ward is named in his memory.

Indeed, Waley-Cohen was quick to reference his brother following his famous National success, revealing that his initials were on his saddle on what he described as a “family day” at Aintree.

Waley-Cohen was also quick to point out his good fortune in what has been an illustrious career, but he sells himself somewhat short as he has proved as good as anyone ever has been around the Grand National fences over his 23-year amateur career, as well as finding a winning route at Cheltenham.

He became the first amateur in 30 years to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup when steering the Nicky Henderson-trained Long Run – owned by his father – to victory in 2011. He also twice won the King George VI Chase at Kempton aboard the same horse.

But despite success in the blue riband of National Hunt racing, Waley-Cohen’s passions have really been fired by the unique test of the Merseyside venue.

The father of three admitted it was a “boyhood fantasy” to ride in the National, describing it as “an impossible dream for an amateur”.

Well those dreams have certainly come true now, thanks to the Emmet Mullins-trained Noble Yeats.

Two Topham Chases, aboard Liberthine in 2006 and Rajdhani Express in 2015 and three Foxhunters’ Chases with Katarino (2005 and 2006) and once on Warne (2014), merely fired his appetite for victory in the most famous steeplechase in the world.

He had come close before, placing on three occasions, most notably when second on Oscar Time in 2011, and he decided with his 40th birthday looming next Friday, Aintree would be the perfect place to close the book on his riding career.

Waley-Cohen had completed the Grand National course five times from nine attempts in the big race itself before now. He did not just get round this time – a feat in itself – but instead produced a perfectly-timed run on a horse his father only bought in February.

Waley-Cohen described Long Run’s Gold Cup victory as “an overwhelming wave of happiness and relief” and his National victory he hailed as a “fairytale” as he rides off into the sunset to concentrate on his work and family life.

We all love a happy ending, don’t we?

It’s a dream! It won’t sink in for weeks - it feels like a fantasy, and I just don’t know what to say.

I’m beyond words. He ran for me. He couldn’t go the early pace, and I was trying to find pockets to give him a bit of space to run into, and I found myself up the inner and I was going more forward than I wanted to.

He loved seeing his fences, so I kept trying to find a spot where he could see them. If I asked him, he came, but if I just half-asked him, he wasn’t confident, so I was really trying to sit against him.

He likes the bit in his mouth and your legs on him, so I was just trying to get him in that nice rhythm, and he just ran. As soon as I asked him, he went.

Jumping the last, I thought, ‘I’ve gone too early!’ I really didn’t want to get there then, but at Cheltenham I was struggling to stay with them all the time, but when I pulled him out and asked him, he gave me way more than I expected, so half when I went for him, I thought he’s got plenty - I know he’s got plenty of toe, so as soon as he picked up, I thought, ‘he’s gone - he’s got this’.

It’s ridiculous. I have to say thanks to Dad - he’s supported me unwaveringly, lovingly, when others said put someone else on. We’ve had a partnership, we haven’t had one cross word - it’s only been for fun.

We came here thinking, well, you know, the sun’s out, it’s my last ride, go and have a nice day with no instructions, no expectations, just enjoy. Today Liverpool comes out, Liverpool shows its love, and honestly, you feel like you travel on goodwill at this place.

You just feel a wave of support and goodwill. These days are big family days, and obviously Thomas isn’t with us, so you always think about him on these days. I still always ride with his initials on my saddle, and these are family days.

I was travelling too well - I just kept trying to fill him up and take my time, and in a way he got there too early, but when he got there he came alive, so I thought, well, you’d better go now. It’s amazing.

When I rode Oscar Time I was on fumes all the way, there was nothing, whereas with him he kept finding and kept going. When the other horse came to me, I was, like, come on! And he picked him.

I always wanted to go out on a high, and I thought Thursday was going to be that high. It doesn’t get better than this, and that’s it now - out!

You need a lot of luck (over these fences), and you need to be on the right horses, and I think, relatively, I’ve ridden these fences a lot more than some of the other jockeys, and experience does help.

Honestly, I think it's luck. If you are on the right horse, and things go right for you, or don’t go wrong for you . . .

This could literally be a moment that I wake up from. It really couldn’t be better.

One of my earliest memories is of trying to ride the Grand National on the rocking horse we have at home, just knowing a few of the horses’ names and remembering them.

We used to come here as kids and there was an ice cream stall where you could get free tasters, and we’d be up and down every race getting free tasters, so it’s been part of my childhood, and what’s probably kept me trying to ride year after year after year is trying to come back and have a feeling like that.

I turn 40 next Friday. I’ve always wanted to ride for the love of it, and one of the reasons I wanted to stop now is because I’ve always felt when you don’t want to go every day and you don’t enjoy every race, wherever you come, you should stop, and the days when you don’t want to go travel three hours for a small race, no matter where you come, it’s time to stop - that’s it. Busy family, busy work - enough. That’s it.

Thinking about doing this again is fool’s gold - I’ve made up my mind, I’ve had the dream ride, and what a way to go out.

I’ve always believed… but I could barely hope. I never really bought the seven-year-old story - I thought a seven-year-old could win, because not many seven-year-olds run in it, so there aren’t many stats, but you can talk yourself into anything when you’re sitting on a seven-year-old.

I’ve only really sat on him three times - once at Emmett’s, once at Cheltenham and once today. I learnt a lot about him at Cheltenham, and I think without that ride at Cheltenham I wouldn’t have had that ride today.

We were looking for a horse - we were going to run Jett, but he wasn’t going to stay the trip. We’d gone up to Wetherby for a hunter chase and we saw Noble Yeats run, and thought, ‘that’s an interesting one, and he’s qualified for the National now - I wonder if they might be interested in doing something’.

We went and spoke to Emmett, and really liked him - he’s a great trainer - and we thought, ‘why not? Let’s have a crack at it’, and one thing led to another.

I’ve been so lucky with all the horses I’ve ridden, and in a way, all those rides build up to today; you keep learning, experience, background - if I hadn’t had those days where things haven’t gone right, I wouldn’t have had today.