Rule The World has lived up to its name, winning the 2016 Crabbie’s Grand National.
The 33/1 outsider, owned by Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary, was ridden by 19-year-old David Mullins as it took a dramatic lead on the final straight to overtake The Last Samuri.
In a race that saw several horses swap the lead Mullins incredibly came from behind to compete and win in the second to last race of the Grand National Festival.
It was the first Grand National outing for Rule The World and it could well be the last after Mr O’Leary said that he was considering retiring the horse. It is understood that the reasoning behind this is because he has twice broken his pelvis.
Creating a win from the inside the final 100 yards, the horse had to be castrated to calm him after crossing the line six lengths ahead of the 8-1 favourite The Last Samuri.
Vics Canvas, a 100/1 shot tipped by Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp, came in third place with Gilgamboa (28/1) finishing fourth.
Holywell was the first horse to fall in the race that got off to an otherwise smooth start. Romford Pele fell at the Canal Turn on the seventh jump.
Mullins, who secured his first ever win at the race, said ” It’s the best feeling in the world to be in a place like this.
“It’s unbelievable. I just couldn’t expect things to have gone better. There was one little mishap at the fourth-last, but thank god I came out. Everything went to plan really.
“Credit to Mouse, he’s produced this horse without having won over faces. Then there’s me, who’s never even walked around the Grand National track.
“Mouse is a genius and he’s the best man in the world for preparing a horse for one day. I’m very thankful to Michael and Eddie O’Leary for giving me the chance.
“That’s the best ride I’ve ever got off a horse and it’s the best feeling to come back in to a place like this. It was just brilliant”.
Mr O’Leary added “I’m delighted for Mouse. It was a masterful rude. I don’t know what to do. I’m really speechless, it’s very rare in my life for me to be speechless”.
Mouse Morris, trainer of the 33/1 winner, said: “I would have settled for third place, I would have been delighted with the way he ran if he had finished third.
“We got a bit of help from somewhere – he was doing overtime for me, poor old Tiff. It’s just Disneyland, fairy tale stuff.
“He has had two fractured pelvises and before that, I always thought that he was the best that I had ever had. I still think I am right, so how good would he have been with a proper arse on him?
“He had a nice weight and he is a class horse on his day. I know he is a maiden but he would be a fair maiden now. He has been running in Group races, Group One races, and banging on the door.”
It was a case of what might have been for jockey David Bass and trainer Kim Bailey after The Last Samuri, 8/1 joint-favourite for the Crabbie’s Grand National, finished six lengths runner-up to Rule The World after a dream run.
“He’s run an absolute blinder. I can’t fault the horse, he’s as brave as a lion,” said Bass.
“I’m just gutted to finish second. He travelled, he jumped, we fought off the third horse and it’s just gutting to be beaten by one. I thought going to the Elbow that if we just kept going we might finish with a wet sail. Anyway, hopefully next year.”
Trainer Kim Bailey added: “There’s only one place you want to be at Aintree and I was lucky enough to be there with Mr Frisk. I hate being second, I can’t even explain the feeling.
“He travelled brilliantly through the race, the rain wouldn’t have helped but what a great run. He never made a mistake the whole way round. I hope we haven’t had our share of winning and it will be our turn next year.”
Jockey Robbie Dunne made a miracle recovery aboard third-placed Vics Canvas (100/1), eight lengths further back, after all but coming off at Becher’s first time around.
“I was terribly unlucky at Becher’s the first time,” said Dunne. “I don’t know how I stayed on him. It took him a while to get his confidence back, I just had to creep, creep away. I was fairly sure coming to the Elbow that I was going to win so it was bit disappointing.
“Everything else went fine apart from that one mistake. I nudged him back into it, he got his confidence back and I just waited as long as I possibly could. I thought he would stay a bit better than he did. But obviously he’s quite a small horse and it’s very testing ground. That’s racing.”
Vics Canvas’s trainer Dermot McLoughlin added: “It was unbelievable how Robbie came back from that mistake, they were very unlucky at Becher’s. They must have lost 20 lengths, the horse tried very hard and it was a great run. Robbie was understandably very disappointed afterwards.
“It was the first time he’d had a low weight like 10st 6lb on his back, he’s much better with a light weight so we were quite hopeful beforehand.”
