Are the fabled Grand National fences as fearsome as they once were?
I think the modifications have taken that fear away a little bit, but Becher’s Brook is still a daunting fence.
Fence number three in the Grand National is a great big ditch and that kind of sets your tone for the race.
Before the modifications, when I first rode over the National fences, the jump at Becher’s was an awful lot bigger and you’re inclined to keep well away from the inside of it because the drop was much bigger in there. But that’s been modified and it does make it an awful lot easier - you can chance more on the inside of Becher’s at not as high a risk, but it’s still a big fence and it still commands plenty of respect.
How does your day-to-day visit to Liverpool look?
I fly in on Thursday and stay in a hotel outside of Liverpool. I don’t really make plans for Thursday evening as it’s almost straight to bed when I get in, check into the hotel and straight to bed.
I ride in the Topham Chase on Friday, which is a nice warm-up for the Grand National, it gives you a feel for the fences the day before - which can be a good thing, or a bad thing, I’m not sure which.
Friday evening again, it’s pretty quiet - myself and a couple of the other lads might go for dinner somewhere and that’s it then, it’s quiet enough. Just looking forward and studying through what your plan is for the big race the next day.
We’ll all walk the course, nearly every jockey that rides in the Grand National will walk the course. I’ll walk it before the Topham [Chase] as I’m riding in the Topham and then I won’t walk it again after that. You’re walking more to check out the ground for your horse and find where the best ground on the track is, more so than anything else. It’s very straightforward to find your way around the Grand National - just knowing what fence is coming next is quite important as well.
With the big race at 5.15pm - does the day seem longer than a usual race day?
I actually find the day itself quite painful. We have to be at the racecourse for 12 o’clock, to have a briefing about the Grand National, which is something I think is totally unnecessary for professional jockeys. I think, if they want to do a briefing, it should be done the evening before - because having riders there from 12 o’clock, the Grand National is quarter past five, I actually think it makes riders more anxious an awful lot sooner than it needs to be. It’s not something you can do, you can’t pull out to the racecourse at 12 o’clock and then go back into your hotel and rest for a while.
It makes no sense to me having that briefing at 12 o’clock on the day. Why don't they have it an hour before the race, or the evening before, so the jockeys can go home from the briefing and relax. It’s not ideal - the Liverpool players won’t be at the Etihad at 12 o’clock before a half four kick off on Sunday will they?