Sam Waley-Cohen will be hoping The Young Master can carry him into the Grand National winners’ enclosure for the first time, when the duo hit the track at Aintree on April 8th.
Very few jockeys can match Sam Waley-Cohen’s record over the Aintree fences. Despite his failure to win National Hunt racing’s most famous contest, the amateur rider has finished a close second with Oscar Time behind Ballabriggs in 2010, before coming home fourth on the same horse two years later.
The pair finally enjoyed Aintree success together when Waley-Cohen and Oscar Time won the 2014 Becher Chase. Combine that excellent victory and his Grand National exploits with the other five wins Sam has recorded around Aintree and he becomes one of the most sought-after jockeys when the Aintree Festival rolls around every April.
Sam’s father, Robert Waley-Cohen has been closely connected with horse racing his entire life. He was the trainer of Oscar Time during his glory days with Sam in the saddle and he’s currently the Racecourse Chairman at Cheltenham. He also has strong connections with The Young Master and Neil Mulholland’s eight-year-old is about to embark upon his first ever attempt at the Grand National.
Sam Waley-Cohen’s presence in the saddle didn’t seem to count for much when the duo fell when trailing at the rear of the field on his first visit to Aintree in this season’s Becher Chase. However, when speaking to the local Gloucestershire press this week, Robert Waley-Cohen professed his confidence in The Young Master and in his son’s ability to finally seize Grand National glory.
“You hardly dare say that Sam has a great record over the fences as one day it is going to catch up with you with a fall!” Robert said to GloucestershireLive. “He has had a couple of falls over the fences and some great wins too.
“The Young Master seems to have come out of his race at Cheltenham very well and it’s all systems go for Aintree. We would have preferred it if he had finished third at Cheltenham, as he did last season, but his run was fine.”
It would have been difficult for The Young Master to repeat his third-placed finish in the 2016 Ultima Handicap Chase this year, but he ended the race brilliantly to follow the leaders home in sixth. He finished his 2015/16 campaign with an excellent win in the Sandown Gold Cup Handicap Chase at their season ending festival, where he produced a powerful late charge to pip Grand National rival, Just A Par to the post by a nose.
He will carry a weight of 10-12 to post with him in the Grand National, the same weight he carried to victory at Sandown and Robert Waley-Cohen thinks The Young Master and his son Sam have a good chance of adding another April accolade to their CV in the Grand National.
“He seems to be a spring horse and runs well at this time of year, so hopefully that will continue at Aintree.”
