'For a moment I thought this was going to be it' - Henderson rues National near miss with Mister Coffey

Nicky Henderson admitted he thought he had finally broken his 44-year Grand National hoodoo as Mister Coffey cut out much of the running in Saturday's race.

Nico de Boinville opened up a seven-length lead in between the third-last and second-last on the enigmatic eight-year-old to raise hopes Henderson would fill the only big-race hole left on his bulging CV.

Mister Coffey held the lead approaching the last before being overtaken by the winner Corach Rambler and eventually tired on the run-in the finish eighth. He was Henderson's 43rd runner in the world's most famous race.

The six-time champion trainer's first runner in the National came in 1979 when Zongalero finished second, and he also had the runner-up in 1987 with The Tsarevich.

"I have to say for a moment I thought this was going to be it, which makes it all the harder really, but there you go," the trainer said. "We know what this game is all about and we'll have to come back and do it again next year.

"You can't do much better than that. He deserved to finish in the first four for what he had done. He jumped from fence to fence and, like Nico said, you did sort of think you were going to get there, but not quite."

De Boinville was left to reflect on the performance with mixed emotions.

"He gave me a fantastic spin and I'm absolutely delighted," he said. "We can be really proud of him and he's a true National type. Of course you start to think when you're crossing the road like that, but hey-ho it wasn't to be."

Vanillier, winner of the 2021 Albert Bartlett at the Cheltenham Festival, produced by far his best display over fences when staying on for second, two and a quarter lengths behind the winner, under Sean Flanagan.

The grey Vanillier storms home under Sean Flanagan but can't quite get to Corach RamblerCredit: Edward Whitaker

Flanagan, who finished sixth on Road To Riches in 2018, said: "I jumped a little slow early and I probably got further back than I wanted to be. He's a really strong stayer and probably didn't go forward early enough. But he stayed all the way to the line and jumped really well. I was very happy with him."

Noble Yeats ran a gallant race in defence of his crown off a 19lb higher mark, finishing one place behind the Willie Mullins-trained Gaillard Du Mesnil in fourth.

Robert Waley-Cohen, owner of last year's winner, said: "He was carrying an enormous amount of weight and I have absolutely no complaints about how he ran. I thought he finished off really strong, but he had 19lb more than last year and second topweight."

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