Grand National champion jockey Sam Waley-Cohen has added another feather to his cap by winning the iconic race on Saturday.
He stunned Aintree with the win aboard 50-1 outside chance Noble Yeats. Success around the racecourse appears to be the latest exploit in the life of Waley-Cohen, whose dental firm - Portman Dental Care - has been valued at £300 million.
Waley-Cohen is also known among more exclusive circles for helping to set up Prince William and Kate Middleton. The 39-year-old hosted a party at his family’s 17th century Oxfordshire mansion in 2007, where Will and Kate reportedly reignited their romance.
The jockey played down his role in the royal relationship, but the story has remained. Waley-Cohen, who won the Cheltenham Gold Cup on Long Run in 2011, told the Mail in 2011: “There's an idea that I was like Cupid with a bow and arrow.
“People love the idea that somebody put them back together but they put themselves together far more. They’ve both been friends for a long time. I think they got back together of their own accord.”
Middleton clearly values her friendship with Waley-Cohen, as she attended a charity roller disco organised by the 2022 Grand National winner back in 2008. While she fell over a number of times, Waley-Cohen was on hand to assist her where possible.
Coverage of the event saw Middleton placed in the crosshairs of some media members to Waley-Cohen’s bemusement. He was annoyed by the negative response to Middelton’s appearance.
“The sniping really annoyed me,” he said. “The whole event was done in really good humour with everyone out to have a good time and raise money for charity.
“And actually it just showed what a normal person Kate is. She was there to have fun, and she fell over. What’s the problem here?”
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Waley-Cohen, who attended the famous royal wedding in 2011, is the CEO of a business which owns more than 100 dental practices across the country. He set up Portman Dental Care in 2008 and it is now worth a staggering sum of money.
A message on his website says he launched the company 'with the vision to develop a truly patient-centric, privately focused dental group, which allows clinicians the autonomy to provide the best possible patient care'.
The website adds: “He is responsible for our overall strategy and focus.”
