Noble Yeats sprung a 50/1 shock in the Grand National to give jockey Sam Waley-Cohen a fairytale send-off on the final ride of his career.
The 39-year-old amateur jockey, renowned for having a superb record over the Aintree fences, announced on Thursday that he would be hanging up his riding boots after the showpiece.
Riding the Emmet Mullins-trained outsider, Waley-Cohen looked to have little chance of bowing out on top but gave the novice - owned by his father Robert - a magnificent ride, coming to challenge favourite Any Second Now at the last and staying on best up the run-in to become the first seven-year-old to win the race since 1940.
“It’s a dream,” Waley-Cohen told ITV. “I couldn’t believe it. I’ve got to say thank you, as it’s my last ever ride, to my dad (Robert Waley-Cohen, owner), for unwavering belief and love.
“Over 23 years and never a cross word, never been anything but a dream. It’s been a love affair. To my wife, long-suffering, they aren’t all good days, there are bad days in this sport.
“It’s a fairytale, a fantasy. There’s a lot of love and gratefulness. It’s getting on the right horses and getting the luck. “You couldn’t make it up, could you?”
Mark Walsh, who enjoyed two Grade 1 successes earlier on the card on Gentleman De Mee and Sire Du Berlais, had to settle for second on Any Second Now, who went one better than last year’s third despite a scratchy jumping performance.
“To get that close, it’s a sickener, but equally it’s a great for the Cohen family, and seeing the father going down the track to meet his son in tears,” said trainer Ted Walsh.
“Mark (Walsh, jockey) said he missed the break but that he jumped and travelled well.
“I thought jumping the last he might get there, but the other horse has outstayed us from the elbow.”
Delta Work, winner of the Cross Country Chase at the Cheltenham Festival last month, came home in third, with Santini - runner up in the Gold Cup earlier in his career - returning to form to finish a gallant fourth ahead of the Colin Tizzard-trained Fiddlerontheroof in fifth.
Rachael Blackmore had become the first female rider to win the race twelve months ago when partnering Minella Times to victory and the pair were bidding to defend their crown but feel early in the contest.
