Sam Waley-Cohen, the amateur jockey with an extraordinarily good record round the Grand National course, has landed a ride in Saturday’s race at the last possible moment. Black Thunder, a 66-1 shot for this year’s National, was sold at auction here on Thursday evening and was eventually knocked down to Waley-Cohen’s father, Robert, for £90,000.
Waley-Cohen Sr, who is the chairman of Cheltenham racecourse, said the horse had really been bought with next year in mind, when the hope is that he will be a useful hunter chaser. But in the meantime he will line up on Saturday with Sam aboard, carrying the family’s familiar brown and orange silks.
The outcome is the latest in a series of twists involving the amateur jockey, who was initially banned from riding on National day after failing to ride out to the line at Carlisle last month, losing third place close home. The jockey failed in an appeal against that ban but then found a loophole regarding the days on which it could be applied, forcing the British Horseracing Authority to concede he could ride on National day after all.
But, until this auction, he had no ride in the race. He had hoped to ride Long Run, his Carlisle mount and a past winner of the Cheltenham Gold Cup, but that horse ran so poorly last month that he was retired on the spot.
“He’ll definitely run in the race and then we’ll come up with a plan at the end of the season,” said Waley-Cohen Sr. “He was a wonderful novice and then rather lost his way handicapping.
“He’s probably made a little more than he’s worth but these opportunities don’t come along very often. We hope to have a lot of fun.”
Importantly, Black Thunder will remain with the trainer Paul Nicholls until Saturday’s race at least. Nicholls is involved in a battle with Willie Mullins for the title of champion British jumps trainer and any prize money Black Thunder might win could be crucial.
Aintree had been rife with speculation that Black Thunder would be bought by Alan Halsall, owner of Bishops Road, who is the first reserve for Saturday’s National and will not get a run unless there is a non-runner by 1pm on Friday. The thinking was that Halsall would buy Black Thunder and withdraw him in favour of a horse with a more obvious chance, but any such scheme appears to have been in the minds of onlookers only.
