Aintree Grand National: Ruby Walsh often stays at Tony McCoy's on his frequent cross-channel expeditions but it's a fair bet that if the Irish champion jockey-elect ever asks his British-based counterpart to whip out a video of Saturday's John Smith's Grand National the response will be especially granite-jawed.
For as Walsh basks in the memory of Hedgehunter's supremely stylish 14-length defeat of Royal Auclair, which gave him an English-Irish National double for the second time in five years, McCoy is having to come to terms with the rather large possibility that the world's most famous race just might never fall into his orbit.
On 10 occasions now, McCoy has failed to complete his book of big-race winners with the biggest one of all. Up to the weekend any previous talk of a jinx was an insult to the difficulty the great old race still provides. But after Clan Royal's bizarre exit, when he and McCoy were clear at Bechers second time around, even the most single-minded rider of his generation might just start to wonder.
Two loose horses, Take The Stand and Merchants Friend, ran down the famous fence, leaving McCoy with nowhere to go but the long trudge back to the stands.
On arrival he was met by a reporter who had to ask the inevitable "how do you feel" question.
"Of course I'm disappointed. It's the Grand National," he replied. "I tried to avoid the loose horses but it is one of those things that can happen."
In the circumstances it was a commendably restrained reply but even so the contrast to his friend Walsh, buried in the post-race media scrum, could hardly have been greater. Walsh isn't usually one to entertain frothy inanities but Aintree could have emptied into the night and the "how do you feel" inquiries would still have sounded good.
"I suppose I was very lucky when Tony got carried out. The horse was very brave to go and jump it considering there were three horses running down the fence," said the 25-year-old.
Certainly Hedgehunter, who was backed down to 7 to 1 clear favourite, retained no bad memories of his gallant effort just 12 months earlier, which ended with a last-fence fall. There was also no residual impact of a dirty nose from just a week before the race.
Willie Mullins kept that quiet, even from Walsh. But as Hedgehunter led from Bechers it all seemed to be going almost too well to be true.
"I had it in my head that I wasn't going to move until I reached the Elbow. I was just praying something wouldn't appear beside me. Nothing did, I gave him a slap, and he sprinted home," Walsh added.
In behind, Carrie Ford and Forest Gunner, the dominant personalities in the pre-race build-up, kept going well enough for a fine fifth placing, with the Frances Crowley-trained Nil Desperandum in sixth. The 2003 winner, Monty's Pass, plugged on for 16th of the 21 finishers.
The National is the race Mullins desired more than any other and afterwards, surrounded by many members of one of Ireland's most famous racing families, the impact of Hedgehunter's success was clear.
"I think last year the horse had got racing too early and the plan this time was to settle in behind one or two. We learned so much from last year but I just couldn't believe it. It's not often a plan comes together like that," said Mullins.
Looking on was his 87-year-old father, Paddy, who retired less than two months ago and earlier in the week had watched another son, Tom, win his first ever race in Britain in a Grade One race.
The National is officially a Grade Three contest but the looks on the faces of both father and son on Saturday only proved yet again the old race has its own unique place.
After a historic Cheltenham for the Irish, the Aintree Festival also proved an outstanding success, with Al Eile's Aintree Hurdle success and Definate Spectacle's victory in Saturday's opener bringing the total for the three days to eight winners.
A funereal early pace and Brave Inca's exit at the third-last turned the hurdle highlight into a trappy affair but Al Eile's enthusiasm for the course was evident once again as Timmy Murphy drove him to a neck defeat of the Stayers' champion, Inglis Drever.
Result:
4.10: JOHN SMITH'S GRAND NATIONAL CHASE (HANDICAP) (CLASS A) (Grade 3) £406,000. 4m 4f.
HEDGEHUNTER (b g Montelimar - Aberedw) Trevor Hemmings 9 11 1 R Walsh (7/1 fav) 1.
Royal Auclair (ch g Garde Royale - Carmonera) Clive D Smith 8 11 10 Christian Williams (40/1) 2.
Simply Gifted (b g Simply Great - Souveniers) Steve Hammond 10 10 6 B Harding (66/1) 3.
It Takes Time (b g Montelimar - Dysart Lady) D A Johnson 11 10 11 T J Murphy (18/1) 4.
Also: 8/1 Forest Gunner (11 10 7 Carrie Ford) 5th, 9/1 Clan Royal (10 10 11 A P McCoy) carried out, 9/1 Strong Resolve (9 10 6 P Buchanan) 17th, 16/1 Amberleigh House (13 11 3 G Lee) 10th, 16/1 Innox (B) (9 10 6 R Thornton) 7th, 16/1 Joly Bey (8 10 10 Mr D H Dunsdon) 14th, 16/1 Nil Desperandum (8 10 11 J Culloty) 6th, 16/1 Take The Stand (9 11 5 L Aspell) unseated rider, 20/1 Colnel Rayburn (9 10 7 P Carberry) pulled up, 25/1 Double Honour (B) (7 10 8 P J Brennan) unseated rider, 25/1 Lord Atterbury (9 10 6 M Bradburne) fell, 25/1 Marcus du Berlais (8 10 5 B M Cash) unseated rider, 25/1 Spot Thedifference (12 10 7 R M Power) 18th, 33/1 Ad Hoc (11 10 12 J Tizzard) fell, 33/1 Bindaree (11 11 3 C Llewellyn) 11th, 33/1 Jakari (8 10 10 R Johnson) pulled up, 33/1 Just In Debt (9 10 7 A Dobbin) 9th, 33/1 Le Coudray (11 11 12 C O'Dwyer) pulled up, 33/1 Monty's Pass (12 11 6 B J Geraghty) 16th, 50/1 Foly Pleasant (11 11 0 A Thornton) fell, 50/1 Fondmort (9 11 6 M A Fitzgerald) pulled up, 50/1 Frenchman's Creek (11 10 9 J A McCarthy) unseated rider, 66/1 Ballycassidy (9 11 5 S Durack) unseated rider, 66/1 Heros Collonges (10 10 11 J P McNamara) 8th, 66/1 L'Aventure (B) (6 10 5 R P McNally) 15th, 80/1 Merchants Friend (10 10 6 N Fehily) fell, 100/1 Astonville (11 10 13 Mr B J Crowley) pulled up, 100/1 Ballybough Rasher (10 11 4 A Dempsey) refused, 100/1 Native Emperor (9 10 5 D Elsworth) unseated rider, 100/1 Polar Red (8 10 8 T J Malone) 13th, 100/1 Risk Accessor (10 11 4 A P Crowe) unseated rider, 125/1 Iznogoud (9 10 9 T Scudamore) 12th, 150/1 Europa (9 10 6 J M Maguire) 20th, 150/1 Glenelly Gale (11 10 11 Mr T Greenall) pulled up, 200/1 Arctic Copper (11 10 6 D N Russell) 19th, 200/1 Shamawan (10 10 6 J R Barry) 21st. 40 ran. 14l, hd, 4l, 9l, ½l, 11l, 3½l, 2½l, 5l, 1½l, 1l, 1¼l, 9l, 15l, 5l, 6l, 16l, 17l, 21l, 19l. (W P Mullins, Closutton, Co Carlow).
Tote: £8.00; £2.60, £13.10, £13.40, £4.70. Tote Exacta: £612.70. CSF: £276.76. Tricast: £16,091.80.
