The Grand National meeting is always great fun and it was no different this year, even though the weather on the first two days wasn’t the best.

Any winner at the big spring festivals is memorable and for me to have two really was the icing on the cake after what’s been a fantastic season.

They are big meetings, everyone is there. Two big winners on TV is always helpful - it reminds people that you can do it.

Lalor on the up

We won the bumper together at this meeting last year, so we knew Lalor was a decent sort.

A couple of his runs this season were good, particularly behind Western Ryder at Cheltenham in December with Summerville Boy back in third.

I thought he had a fair chance of being placed, but you couldn’t be hugely confident after Newbury.

He obviously likes the track at Aintree. He got into a nice rhythm and stayed on all the way to the line.

Lalor’s not a slow horse, so you’d probably leave him at two miles to start with next season.

I’d have thought he’ll go chasing at some point, as I’m not sure he’s quite Champion Hurdle class.

We’ll have to see what the handicapper does. He could start in a hurdle and then go over fences.

It was obviously very emotional and poignant after what happened with Richard Woollacott a few months ago.

He’s the one who got the horse and it’s nice that everyone remembers him in a positive way.

Thomas the tank

We were really pleased with Thomas Patrick in the big handicap on Saturday.

He enjoys bowling along and jumps well - he’s definitely on the upgrade.

Although he’s only six, he’s a big strong horse and is probably only just coming into himself now.

He’ll be a nice horse for next season and there are some big races to go for.

Soft ground is important for him, so I don’t think you’ll see him until the ground gets soft next winter.

He could run at Newbury, or possibly the Welsh National at Chepstow.

They are both realistic prizes to aim at, and when he’s been reassessed he should still be quite nicely weighted.

I don’t know what Tom Lacey and the owner are thinking, but he’s a nice horse to put in a field now for next season.

Tom’s horses are absolutely flying and he’s made an incredible start to his training career. He’s doing very, very well.

He trains near to me and has got some fantastic facilities. I reckon he’s going to be even busier after the week he’s just had.

I go down there to ride out quite regularly. He knows his horses inside out and rides them out each day.

Other Aintree rides

We were thrilled with Gumball in the juvenile hurdle, he ran really well. It was nice to see him show the form we knew he could.

Whether he runs again this season or not, we’ll have to see. He should be able to land a decent prize soon.

There’s still the option of the Swinton Hurdle at Haydock next month. We’ve been waiting for some better ground and he might get that there.

Western Ryder didn’t quite get home over the trip on soft ground. We all hoped it would be better, but he struggled from the last to the winning post.

He ran another solid race, though, and I could see him running really well in one of those big two mile handicaps next season.

Saint Are confusion

I’ve got no idea where the rumour started that I was riding Saint Are in the Grand National after Adrian Heskin’s unfortunate injury.

No one spoke to me about it and Ciaran Gethings was always going to ride him if anything happened to Adrian.

It was lovely to ride a winner before the National and I was in the car before the jockeys went out onto the course.

It was obviously a shame not to have a ride, but hopefully we’ll get one next year.

Tiger roars

It was a very good race and it showed again that you really need a class horse to win it.

Tiger Roll is absolutely unbelievable. When he won the Triumph Hurdle you could never have imagined that he’d go on to win the Grand National.

Gordon Elliott has done an absolutely amazing job with him. He’s a brilliant trainer and has had another wonderful season.

I was also really pleased for Davy Russell. He’s a great character and has achieved everything that can be achieved in racing.

The Grand National was the one he really wanted and it’s great to see him do it. You could tell that it meant a lot.

It’s happened plenty of times in the past when a horse has almost stopped in the last 50 yards – it did with me on What’s Up Boys in 2002!

You could tell that Tiger Roll was running on fresh air at the end. You just need them to hold on for a little longer and I’m sure it was a massive relief when that winning last came.

It was another brilliant renewal of the Grand National and it’s great that everyone has come back safe and sound.

BHA very harsh on Danny Cook

All Danny was trying to do was help. If you have an accident on the road, you’re going to try to do what you can to help.

He knew there was a jockey injured on the other side of Becher’s and he just did what Ruby Walsh did a few years ago.

I was surprised about the reaction from the BHA – Danny should have been praised rather than anything else.

Looking forward to Native River v Might Bite II

I was pleased to see Might Bite go and win the Betway Bowl, it really franked the Gold Cup form from Cheltenham.

He was impressive and you can’t knock him at all this season, he’s been top class.

He paid a big compliment to Native River and we’ll hopefully be doing battle again next March. Obviously I hope we can get the same result.

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