By the time I reached the fifth however I’d lost actual consciousness although I was apparently

By the time I reached the fifth, however, I’d lost actual consciousness, although I was apparently still saying stuff to camera and tried to pick a fight with the chef who’d come out of his kitchen to offer me a local delicacy, fried cheese.I’m glad to be back The doctors say I can leave hospital next week

More from Dom Joly. The toughest race on the calendar? It was more like a holiday for Niall Madden as the Irish jockey rode Numbersixvalverde to victory in the Grand National at Aintree. The 11-1 shot, trained by Martin Brassil at a small yard in County Kildare, held on down the long run-in to thwart the attempt by Hedgehunter to emulate Red Rum in 1974 and win the race for the second successive year. The 5-1 joint favourite had to settle for second place this time, six lengths behind the winner. On a horse named after the address of the owner Bernard Carroll’s holiday home in Portugal, it was a comfortable victory for Madden, which was appropriate for a man nicknamed “Slippers” “It’s brilliant. I had a dream run the whole way round and he jumped super,” Madden said “This means everything to me It’s magic. I’ve tried to imagine winning this race since I was a boy but I couldn’t.

It’s magic.” Brassil, the trainer, was just as stunned by his success. “It is unbelievable and it was like watching a movie out there,” he said. “Niall gave him a great ride and never panicked – it is all hard to believe really.”. Like John Francome, Jonjo O’Neill and so many others, even the finest can fall short in the longest, cruellest race of them all. As 20-year-old Niall “Slippers” Madden, who started out a virgin soldier in the steeplechasing spectacular and returned to be overwhelmed by Irish back-slappers after conquering all on Numbersix-valverde, the vanquished warrior Tony McCoy could only trudge quietly to the weighing room, digesting the numbing sensation of defeat once again. In this, his 11th National ride, he finished third on the joint-favourite Clan Royal. That equals the best the 10-times champion has achieved in an event that continues to deride his talents.

Other than a similar position on Blowing Wind in 2001 and 2002, he has failed to finish. Will McCoy, so imperious in so many races, ever make that triumphant walk that lesser riders have known?. Experience counted here yesterday, but not quite enough. Hedgehunter and Clan Royal, the 5-1 Grand National joint-favourites, a pair with records and tales to tell over this unique course that would fill a form-book or two, had to give best yesterday to a crowd of Liverpool virgins. The 11-1 winner, Numbersixvalverde, was having his first try over the challenging fences and neither jockey Niall Madden, nor trainer Martin Brassil, nor indeed owner Bernard Carroll had any previous experience of the Aintree showpiece. And as he returned on the near-black 10-year-old, who had finished six lengths clear of the so-gallant Hedgehunter, 20-year-old Madden – known as Slippers because his father was Boots – had no doubts about his initiation “Magic,” he gasped “Magic, magic, magic.”. The dinners were private, held aboard their eye-poppingly expensive luxury yachts.

The two men talking were both billionaires and the subject under discussion was revolution An overthrow of the old and installation of the new. The conspirators were Ernesto Bertarelli, the Swiss pharmaceuticals chief, and Larry Ellison, the self-made boss of the Californian-based Oracle computer software giant. Their sport is yachting, the regime under scrutiny the America’s Cup, and, three years on, changes large and small have been the result. All nationality rules have been dropped, the defender has been racing with the challengers, the time-frame to find the ultimate sole challenger has been cut to six weeks beginning next April – and attempts to cut budgets have failed hopelessly.
Trivially, black is the favourite colour of more than half the new boats; significantly, billions will be spent on the 32nd America’s Cup.

The full extent of the makeover of an event with 155 years of history behind it will appear in the city of Valencia, better known for industry and oranges, next month with the first of this year’s regattas.Right now the heart of a new waterfront and harbour complex, just named Port America’s Cup, is raw concrete and a permanent cloud of dust. With teams of builders working double shifts, the event is already bringing new jobs. The caterers and hotelkeepers are looking forward to a bonanza. Behind the brochure images and the glittering new team compounds a sporting event involving a truly staggering €2 billion (£1.4bn) is making its European debut.Not everything has changed in the America’s Cup. The paranoia is still rampant, the mega-buck egos will still be strutting down the dock trying to look like sporting superstars and the knife-fight to establish a winning advantage will be as vicious as ever – the 12 teams will spend a total of at least €600m (£415m).It is in the organisational structure that the new wrinkles lie – a company owned by Bertarelli will promote and organise the event. Starting in April 2007, quick-fire Louis Vuitton Cup elimination races will cut the 11 challengers down to four semi-finalists in May.