Watch the Grand National replay and interviews as Sam Waley-Cohen wins with the last ride of his career on Noble Yeats

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Waley-Cohen announced his intention to retire on Thursday, nominating Emmet Mullins’ charge as his farewell ride in the world’s most famous steeplechase.

The 39-year-old, who partnered Long Run to the 2011 Cheltenham Gold Cup and two King George Chases (2011 & 2012) during his career, was sent off at 50/1 with Noble Yeats but he ran a magnificent race in the colours of his father Robert as he fended off the 15/2 favourite Any Second Now for a famous National success.

Waley-Cohen said: “Dad has always supported me unwaveringly, we’ve never had a cross word, it’s always been for fun. It’s been a love affair. To my wife, long-suffering, they aren’t all good days, there are bad days in this sport.

“We came here thinking the sun’s out, it’s your last ride – go and have a nice spin, no expectations. Just enjoy it. It’s a dream. I couldn’t believe it.”

He also paid tribute to his late brother Thomas, who died of cancer in his 20s, told ITV: "I do think Thomas is sitting on by back. I do ride with his name on my saddle. These days are family days and you couldn't make this up!"

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Waley-Cohen has a great record at Aintree but said: "You need a lot of luck (over these fences), and you need to be on the right horses, and I think, relatively, I’ve ridden these fences a lot more than some of the other jockeys, and experience does help. Honestly, I think it's luck. If you are on the right horse, and things go right for you, or don’t go wrong for you…

“This could literally be a moment that I wake up from. It really couldn’t be better.

“One of my earliest memories is of trying to ride the Grand National on the rocking horse we have at home, just knowing a few of the horses’ names and remembering them.

“We used to come here as kids and there was an ice cream stall where you could get free tasters, and we’d be up and down every race getting free tasters, so it’s been part of my childhood, and what’s probably kept me trying to ride year after year after year is trying to come back and have a feeling like that.

“I turn 40 next Friday. I’ve always wanted to ride for the love of it, and one of the reasons I wanted to stop now is because I’ve always felt when you don’t want to go every day and you don’t enjoy every race, wherever you come, you should stop, and the days when you don’t want to go travel three hours for a small race, no matter where you come, it’s time to stop - that’s it. Busy family, busy work - enough. That’s it.

“Thinking about doing this again is fool’s gold - I’ve made up my mind, I’ve had the dream ride, and what a way to go out."

In a press conference later on, he said: “It’s over and out for me now and I’ve said for ages actually that if I win the Grand National I would retire there and then and give my dad my boots in the winners’ enclosure.

“I gave him my hat actually and my boots are still on but I think when you have a ride that like and it goes as well as that, you have to stick to what you said.

“I didn’t get the start I wanted and he just found it all happening way too fast. I just tried to fill him with confidence and find a bit of space to let him get into a rhythm. It wasn’t where I wanted to be but when he started going forward he just started picking horses off and I got a great line up the inner and he just started cutting through the pack.

“I thought ‘fine, I’ll just keep going’ as I was meant to be there and he was just slowly running himself into that position. He worked himself into it.

“It was only after the finish line (that I started to believe I’d won the Grand National). I could feel the other horse (Any Second Now) and I didn’t know what was coming from behind so we just kept going forward.

“When I rode him at Cheltenham I couldn’t get him to travel as I wanted to and at the top of the hill I pulled him out and gave him space and asked him to go forward and he really picked up for me and got into the race.

“I said to Emmet after that I was really surprised he had that in him as I just couldn’t get him to travel in his race. Once he got space and I asked him I was half hoping he had that kind of finish up his sleeve and he really did, he really found.”

Waley-Cohen added: "Since point-to-pointing my ambition would have been to have had a ride in a Cheltenham Festival race and maybe one day have a ride in the Foxhunters (at Aintree) – it certainly wasn’t to ride in the Grand National! The connection goes back but sat here I can’t really say I had a masterplan to do this, one thing led us to another thing which led us to another thing.

“I’ll be an ex-jockey now but I’ve got a busy work life. Portman Dentalcare have got nearly 250 practices in five countries and 4,000 staff working for us, so it keeps me out of trouble! Monday morning I’ll be back on my Teams calls and my Zoom calls working away and continuing with life as it was before.

“Of course I’ll miss this but I love horses and racing has been about the partnerships with horses and enjoying the horses. I rode out this morning on one of our homebreds because I just love horses, so they will be a big part of my life going forward and I just love bringing the young horses through.

On losing his late brother, Thomas Waley-Cohen, Sam added: “I think when you lose somebody you love and you lose them when you’re young, you realise to make the most of life and to appreciate it and to try and approach things with an open heart and a lot of spirit.

“I just try to put a lot of energy into every day because you don’t know if it’s going to be your last day or whatever it is. It’s definitely made me want to make the most of the opportunities and thanks to that I’ve had incredible opportunities and tried to make the most of the ones that I’ve had presented.”

Sam’s father Robert Waley-Cohen added: “I’m wearing a wristband with Thomas’ initials on and that was woven by my wife and contains not only our racing colours but also Long Run’s tail. We’ve done that quite a lot so thank heavens it keeps growing back!”

Asked to sum up his son’s talent, he said: “Dedication, hard work. He only rides about 30 races, apart from point-to-points, in the year, and his record is unspeakably good. I’m really emotional.

“It’s fantastic, that is what we dreamed about for years. Sam used to ride a rocking horse, pretending he was riding Auntie Dot. That’s how far back it goes.”

He added: “It is what dreams are made of. This is it, and you sort of think, ‘last ride ever, 40 years old next Friday, and won so many great races’ - we’ve had such fun.”

Asked to sum up his own feelings about it being his son’s final ever ride, he added: “Joy and sadness that it’s all coming to an end. And the horse is only seven and a novice, so he could be here for a good many years yet, but not with Sam on board.

“I had horses between my retiring and his starting, and I shall have them again.

“It’s an amazing story and Sam has been dreaming of winning this ever since he used to ride Auntie Dot on his rocking horse, trained by John Webber, when he was a little kid. So this really is the fulfilment of a life-long dream.”

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