Aintree record for great Corinthian Waley - Cohen

By Ian Chadband LIVERPOOL, April 10 - Sam Waley-Cohen, one of the great Corinthians of modern sport, made history on Friday by becoming the most successful rider in the modern era over Aintree's famous and formidable Grand National obstacles. The amateur jockey, a well-connected friend of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge who rides only as a family sideline, won the Topham Chase on his father Robert's horse, 10-1 shot Rajdhani Express, for an unprecedented sixth victory over the spruce fences. Though he has never won the National, the businessman, who has become an extraordinarily accomplished part-timer having won the Cheltenham Gold Cup and King George VI Chase, boasts a remarkable record in races run over the big race's obstacles. Riding the Nicky Henderson-trained eight-year-old Rajdhani Express, Waley-Cohen produced another faultless run while behind him chaos prevailed with 20 of the 30 runners failing to finish. His 10-length victory means the 32-year-old amateur has now won the Topham Chase twice, one Becher Chase and three Fox Hunters' Chases. Waley-Cohen's National record is tasty too with three top-five finishes including a runner's-up ride on Oscar Time, his mount in Saturday's feature event. "It's such a special course and it's amazing to hear that," he told reporters after learning of his record. "Yesterday I fell at the first fence on the odds-on favourite on this course and felt like the worst jockey in the world and today I'm told I'm the ‘winning-most’ jockey over these fences. It's all a bit arbitrary really." Waley-Cohen is a rare throwback, a Baronet's grandson and millionaire CEO of a chain of dental practices who enjoys daredevil sport for the fun of it, like skydiving, climbing Mont Blanc and bungee jumping out of hot air balloons in the Andes. He zooms off on his Ducati from his multi-million pound Chelsea home for regular boxing sparring sessions and is well known as the man who brought his friends, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, back together after a brief break-up. As for his racing? "It's something very pure," he once said. "It's about the glory, about the race, about the whole thrill of the experience." (Editing by Tony Jimenez)