Flashback: Remembering the 2022 Grand National and the unlikely success of Noble Yeats

The Grand National has long been a theatre of dreams, where racing’s most compelling narratives unfold over four miles and thirty fences. As we build towards the 2025 Grand National, anticipation crackles through the racing community with I Am Maximum attempting to etch his name alongside the select few who have successfully defended their Aintree crown.

The emotional resonance such a feat would generate inevitably draws parallels with the raw, unfiltered sentiment that enveloped Aintree in 2022—a watershed moment when Noble Yeats defied convention, statistics, and racing logic to craft one of the most extraordinary chapters in the Grand National’s storied history.

In the spring sunshine of April 2022, racing enthusiasts gathered at Aintree in numbers that felt both familiar and profoundly significant.

The pandemic had cast its long shadow over the sporting landscape since early 2020, forcing the cancellation of the 2020 Grand National and relegating the 2021 renewal to a ghostly spectacle played out before empty grandstands and punters checking the runners for the Grand National from home.

The return of spectators in 2022 represented not merely a restoration but a rebirth – the Aintree roar, that primal expression of collective anticipation, echoed once more across Merseyside’s hallowed turf.

Against this backdrop of renewal, Noble Yeats emerged as an unlikely protagonist in racing’s most democratic drama. At 50/1 in the betting markets, the seven-year-old novice chaser carried the dismissive assessment of countless experts who deemed him too inexperienced, too untested for Aintree’s fearsome examination.

History stood firmly against him – no horse of his tender years had claimed National glory since Bogskar in 1940, while his relative inexperience over fences suggested an apprenticeship rather than a graduation day.

Yet racing’s endless capacity for romance found its perfect expression in the partnership between Noble Yeats and Sam Waley-Cohen.

The amateur jockey had announced his impending retirement before the race. The National would be his final competitive ride – a farewell tour that few expected to culminate in triumph.

As the tape rose and 40 runners thundered away, Noble Yeats settled into a rhythm that belied his inexperience.

Waley-Cohen’s handling was masterful – conserving energy, finding positions that minimised ground loss while avoiding trouble. The infamous first-circuit attrition that typically claims a third of the field passed without incident for the combination, each fence negotiated with growing assurance.

Where many novices falter at Aintree’s unique obstacles, Noble Yeats revealed an aptitude that surpassed his limited experience.

Becher’s Brook, with its treacherous landing side, was taken with precision. The tight, technical challenge of the Canal Turn was navigated smoothly. Valentine’s Brook posed no problems. By the time the field had thinned and the second circuit commenced, Noble Yeats remained in contention, travelling with unexpected fluency.

The race’s defining movements began to unfold after the second passage of Becher’s. As proven stayers began to assert their credentials and the less robust faltered, Noble Yeats maintained his position, his engine still running efficiently while others began to labour.

The second-last fence presented no difficulties, and as the field turned for home, an implausible scenario crystallised – Noble Yeats, alongside the more fancied Any Second Now, was fighting for National supremacy.

The final fence witnessed a brave, precise leap from Noble Yeats, who landed running. Any Second Now, under Mark Walsh, mounted a determined challenge, but the younger horse’s reserves of stamina proved decisive. On the long, punishing run to the finish, Noble Yeats found extra, pulling away to secure a historic victory by two and a quarter lengths.

The significance transcended the bare result. In winning, Noble Yeats had overcome statistical improbability to become the first seven-year-old National winner in 82 years.

The jockey had secured a fairytale finale to his riding career, becoming the first amateur since Marcus Armytage on Mr Frisk in 1990 to claim National glory. For trainer Emmet Mullins, it represented validation of exceptional talent and judgment, securing jump racing’s greatest prize with his first National runner.

The 2022 Grand National will be remembered not merely for its statistical anomalies but for its perfect synchronicity of circumstances. In a race that had been temporarily lost to public attendance during the pandemic, its return delivered a story of persistence, faith, and improbable achievement.

Noble Yeats proved that in racing, as in life, the status quo exists to be challenged and that history, however imposing, is simply awaiting its next chapter.

The Grand National was back, showcasing racing’s unrivalled ability to produce moments that go beyond sport.