In his exclusive column, the National Hunt jockey and Betway ambassador reflects on Aintree and previews his rides this week
Ground too soft for Kruzhlinin in the National
The ground was very soft for the National. There’d been a lot of rain on Friday and the downpours continued on the Saturday.
I thought Kruzhlinin would have coped better than he did as he’d won on soft before.
He made a few small mistakes and was struggling a long way out. I pulled him up four out.
We’re still learning about him but it seems that he just doesn’t go on very soft ground.
We went a good gallop early on. We realised it was soft so we didn’t go crazy.
Many Clouds also didn’t seem to cope with conditions – it’s very hard off top weight when the mud is flying.
The weight becomes more of an issue and one or two with big weights struggled.
Ruling the world
It was a great race as always and a fantastic training performance by Mouse Morris to win it with Rule The World.
He’s probably the first ever Grand National winner who hadn’t won a race over fences, but he had some proper Grade 1 form.
And what a first ride for David Mullins. To win the National at 19 is an incredible achievement and he’s got a monkey off his back nice and early.
It was obviously a very emotional occasion for all the connections and I was really pleased for them.
Robbie Dunne’s recovery on Vics Canvas at Becher’s was remarkable. He’s a very good jockey and showed his skills on Saturday.
There were no real hard luck stories in the race – it was a very exciting finish.
First Grade 1 winner of the season
I didn’t realise until Channel 4 told me straight after the race that Native River was my first Grade 1 winner this term.
It’s been a brilliant campaign but it’s nice to get the big wins as well.
Native River did the job really well and the Colin Tizzard team can’t do any wrong at the moment. To have three Grade 1 winners at a meeting for any yard is amazing.
He looks like he could be a National type in the future. He jumps and stays very well and something like the Hennessy would look a logical early season target.
Other Aintree runners
Unfortunately a few of Philip’s [Hobbs] horses underperformed slightly.
Garde La Victoire wasn’t really travelling that well before he fell, but I haven’t lost the faith with him.
Copper Kay ran a decent race but I don’t think we’ve seen the mare we saw at Cheltenham last November in her past two starts.
There is an option for her at Punchestown, although we might wait for next season now. I’m really looking forward to riding her over hurdles.
Village Vic didn’t quite have his usual spark. He jumped round, despite making a couple of mistakes, but he’s had a busy season.
Winning four handicaps is hard for any horse and I don’t think we saw the best of him at Aintree.
Duke Des Champs ran fairly well. He got a bit tired at the finish. I was getting excited coming to three out, but he’s still quite a big, weak horse.
He’ll be a chaser next season and I’m sure he’ll be better with another summer on his back.
This week
Wishfull Thinking looks like he’s going to Cheltenham on Wednesday. It would be great to end the season on a high with him.
He seems in good form at home and Philip’s had this race in mind for a while.
We’ve then got Ayr at the weekend.
Cheltenian will probably try to defend his crown in the Scottish Champion Hurdle, while Wait For Me could also run in that race.
READ: Richard Johnson: The most important thing is getting your horse into a good rhythm
