Grand National is next step for Vieux Lion Rouge and ambitious jockey Conor O’Farrell

A routine question for jump jockeys, his response is, nevertheless, even more informed a week after he partnered Aintree specialist Vieux Lion Rouge to Becher Chase success over the iconic Grand National fences.

The heartwarming victory came nearly a decade after a fresh-faced O’Farrell won at the Cheltenham Festival on Buena Vista and thought he had made it.

“A Cheltenham Festival winner is always something you appreciate,” said O’Farrell, as he recalled Buena Vista’s victory in the 2011 Pertemps Final.

“But if you asked me now whether I would like to win the Grand National or the Gold Cup, I would definitely say the Grand National.

“To have a winner over those fences, and considering the spin that I got on such a class horse, it was very satisfying.

“And to do it on that horse was very special.”

‘That horse’ is the David Pipe-trained Vieux Lion Rouge whose runaway Becher win last weekend means that he’s jumped 232 National fences without mishap – a new record – after nine faultless rounds of jumping.

Victorious in 2016, O’Farrell came in for the mount after regular rider Tom Scudamore opted to ride stablemate Ramses De Teillee who was unsuited by the frantic early pace.

And just as rewarding, from the winning rider’s perspective, was that he received the call-up from Pipe after leaving the yard in August 2017 after seven years to move north in the hope of securing more opportunities.

Now, thanks to trainers like Iain Jardine, Rose Dobbin, Dianne Sayer and Rebecca Menzies, he’s established in the North and grateful for the input of former jockey Wilson Renwick, who is now his agent.

“I was stuck in a rut down south and I had gone stale,” O’Farrell, 31, told The Yorkshire Post in an exclusive interview.

“I’d been spending the summers riding in France and decided to myself that if I had the same work ethic in England, I would do okay. I needed a change of scenery.

“I did a lot of thinking and spoke to a lot of people. I am grateful to those who pointed me in the right direction and away from the wrong direction. But I was confident that there was a gap in the North for another professional jockey.”

It was a big – even brave – call by a rider who had won at Cheltenham on Buena Vista for the Pipes and recorded notable winners on the horses of the calibre of Dynaste and Junior.

“For the first 18 months, it was slow and hard work,” he concedes. “I would like to think things are progressing nicely – I have moved agent to Wilson Renwick and he’s been fantastic.”

And then that phone call from Pipe on the Monday before the Becher offering a dream ride on Vieux Lion Rouge – French for Old Red Lion. Surprisingly, O’Farrell hesitated. He waited until he could check with his agent whether his regular trainers in the North would require him.

Once it was clear that there were no obvious rides, the jockey’s mind was made up and he instructed the aforementioned Renwick not to accept any because he would be at Aintree flying over the Grand National fences.

“They are absolutely nothing like the normal fences we ride over,” says the jockey whose best National result was a sixth place finish on Swing Bill in 2016 behind Yorkshire hero Auroras Encore.

“I don’t know what it is, the green spruce on the fences or the history of the track, but you get a different kind of buzz going round there. When you’re on a horse that takes to them, there’s no better place.”

Especially one as reliable as Vieux Lion Rouge, a standard-bearer for ever enthusiastic owners Professor Caroline Tisdall and John Gent who have put so much into the sport.

O’Farrell knew the early pace would be frenetic – so it proved as Bryony Frost and Yala Enki fell at the first – and deliberately took his time, making sure he was not following the more doubtful jumpers.

Sensing 2018 and 2019 winner Walk In The Mill was not enjoying himself, he made a mid-race tactical decision just to change his approach towards The Chair – the biggest fence on the still daunting course.

It paid off – Walk In The Mill came to grief – and Vieux Lion Rouge was nimble enough to avoid Ben Poste who had come off Minellacelebration on the turn out into the country. By then, just eight of the 14 starters were still standing and O’Farrell sensed that he was enjoying the ride of his life.

Even Becher’s Brook appeared ordinary.

“It didn’t ride like Becher’s normally does,” said O’Farrell, who is all too aware of the still discernible drop on the landing side. “It was just another fence because he was so good.

“He’s got all the right attributes. He’s got size and scope, but he’s clever on his feet. When you jump as well as he’s done, you’re never dragging the birch with you while other horses are taking more out of them because they’re going through the fences to get to the other side.”

When they cleared the last in the lead, O’Farrell didn’t dare to look back – he wanted to focus on the long run-in, enjoy the moment and appreciate the faith shown in him by the Pipes.

Time will tell if Vieux Lion Rouge, 12 on New Year’s Day, has a fifth attempt to the National – his best finish was seventh in 2016 under James Reveley, and the extended four-mile trip has proved just too arduous on quicker ground. Yet O’Farrell is hopeful. He says the horse wanted “to go around again” last Saturday and that he would love the ride in the National if it was available.

“The ground is usually quicker in April,” added O’Farrell, who was able to share messages before and after the Becher with his father Seamus who is battling Covid in a hospital in County Kilkenny. “But if it was a wet spring, and the ground came up soft, he would be the one to be on because he would be in his comfort zone.”

And so would Conor O’Farrell.

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