AMATEUR rider Sam Waley-Cohen has a quite extraordinary record around Aintree and Rajdhani Express’s comfortable victory at 10/1 in the Grade 3 Crabbie’s Topham Chase took his tally over these unique obstacles to six - two Tophams, a Becher Chase and three Fox Hunters. No professional can match those figures.

He became the winning-most jockey over the National obstacles of the modern era when guiding his father Robert’s homebred Rajdhani Express (10/1) to victory. Only 10 of the 30 runners completed the course.

The jockey said: “It’s such a special course and it’s amazing to hear that. He was so clever and full of courage. I wasn’t sure coming round the last bend if we’d done too much but I just tried to fill him up and he was so brave.”

Rajdhani Express could be named the likely winner some way from home and finally eased past Fairy Rath to set his seal on the race. Rathlin came third with the winner’s stable-companion Hunt Ball fourth. This made it three straight wins in the Topham for Nicky Henderson.

“He got more confident as he went on. We bred him at home and he’s been a superstar for us,” Waley-Cohen said.