THE feature race last weekend was, of course, the Grade 3 Crabbie’s Grand National at Aintree and, as it has done so often in the past, it produced something of a fairytale result.

Rule The World, whom his ever-popular trainer Mouse Morris has always held in the highest regard, had never won a race over fences, had twice recovered from pelvic injuries, was a first ride in the event for 19-year-old David Mullins, and completed a remarkable treble for Michael O’Leary’s Gigginstown House Stud, those famous colours having also been carried to victory in the Cheltenham Gold Cup and Irish Grand National in the previous few weeks.