GRAND NATIONAL winner Rule The World has been forced to retire from racing, but what a way to bow out of the sport.
Ridden by David Mullins and trained by Mouse Morris, Rule The World romped home as a 33/1 winner at Aintree last month, but the nine-year-old has not been without his problems.
He broke his pelvis a couple of times so it hasn’t come as a huge surprise that he’s been retired, but to recover and win the most recognised steeplechase in the world is really something else.
Rule The World came second in the Irish Grand National, but he’d never won a chase before the British Grand National. So, to win his first chase at Aintree was an amazing achievement.
Well done to all involved and I'm sure he'll be well looked after in retirement.
Meanwhile, I noticed AP McCoy doing a bit of motivational work with Saracens Rugby Club recently.
As a rider, AP never let too much out of the bag, probably because he was so competitive and he wouldn’t want to be advising his competition in the weighing room.
He was always really nice guy though, and if you did have a problem he’d help you as best as he could.
But now he’s sharing all his wisdom openly and that’s great for any sportsperson who gets to listen to him because he’s achieved so much and still has so much to offer in retirement.
In fact, I think the racing world has a lot to offer for other sports, particularly in medical research.
I know some surgeons are looking at what we’re doing in the medical side of horse racing.
I think over the next few years you’ll see the sport really grow in terms of how much people will look to it to learn, especially now AP is passing on his knowledge.
On the jump scene, Richard Johnson has had a bit of time to relax with his family after we had a good party to celebrate him winning his first championship.
He’ll be all guns blazing trying to win the championship again this season, which would be great if he does and totally deserved for all the years he’s had to play second fiddle to AP.
But this time of year is all about the flats as the big jump festivals are all over and done with.
The weather has been mad up here in York though. Over the past week we’ve had 20-degree heat, heavy rain, bitter coldness and the week before last we had snow.
Hopefully the ground will begin to dry out now and we can kick on and get some good flat racing under our belts.
