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| |  Friday, 6 April, 2001, 07:25 GMT 08:25 UK The good, Brad and the ugly Bradley on the galloping grey Suny Bay Former top Grand National jockey Graham Bradley gives BBC Sport Online's Frank Keogh a unique insight into the big race. Few people have such a colourful knowledge of the Grand National as former top jockey Graham Bradley. Bradley's 15 rides in the Aintree marathon mirrored his career in the saddle, a heady mix of glory and pain. There was the good - like riding the gallant grey Suny Bay, who so nearly pulled off an astonishing National victory in 1998. There was the bad - it does not get much worse than being arrested as part of a race-fixing inquiry. Brad, as he is better known, was later cleared of any wrongdoing. And the ugly - as any amount of broken bones and crashing falls from horses travelling over large obstacles at 30mph will testify.
But it is the good that sticks in Brad's mind, and top weight Suny Bay's second to Earth Summit in heavy ground, 12 months after the horse finished runner-up to Lord Gyllene, "The excitement and experience really fulfilled me, not only as a jockey but as a person as well. I wouldn't be the same man if I hadn't gone through that experience," he said. "Nearly winning the world's greatest race was the absolute thrill of a lifetime. "I never wasted an inch of ground. He jumped absolutely impeccably. "I was very, very confident all the way, even with half-a-mile to go. I thought I was going to win until between the second last and the last." Weight difference Earth Summit, ridden by Carl Llewellyn, was carrying 22lbs lighter in the marathon handicap race, run over a gruelling four-and-a-half miles. And the lighter-weighted horse eventually prevailed by 11 lengths in the demanding conditions. "I think it's the second-best weight-carrying performance I've ever known in the Grand National, in my lifetime," said Bradley of Suny Bay's effort. "Nothing will ever come anywhere near Crisp in 1973, which was just mind-boggling. "He was only just beaten giving a huge amount of weight away to Red Rum who went on to win two more Nationals.
"Weight stops trains and it was just very unfortunate." Despite the Grand National's high profile, Bradley revealed it is good to talk DURING the race. He said: "Between the third and second last fence, there's a lot of time to collect your thoughts. "The ground was very soft so they were going very slow. "I had a look round and could see we were 30 lengths clear of anything else. " I had a chat with Carl Llewellyn. He had a chat back. "I told him there was half-a-mile to go, 'lots of time, hombre', that's his nickname.
"It's not often you do get long to have a proper chat like that. "You're still focused, still concentrating. But on that big run-in, there is lots of time to weigh things up." And it meant afterwards, there was no hard feelings. Bradley said: "I went straight up to Carl, shook his hand and gave him a hug. I was absolutely delighted for him." A year earlier, Bradley was on long shot Lo Stregone, but was caught up in more drama as an IRA bomb scare forced the course to be evacuated. The Grand National was run two days later. Thousands of people, including jockeys ready to ride in the National, had to leave the track without their belongings. "We had no money, no mobile phones, we were stranded, so we all went into Liverpool dressed in our silks," he recalls. Soccer stars "You've never seen anything like it. We were in the Adelphi Hotel, and it was like a fancy dress party." Bradley is good friends with Tony McCoy, and the champion jockey's friendship with Liverpool soccer stars Steve McManaman (now at Real Madrid) and Robbie Fowler bore fruit that weekend. The players organised tickets for the Liverpool-Coventry game at Anfield on the Sunday. Bradley, still wearing his riding boots, watched the Reds lose but as a Leeds United supporter, he could stomach that. After retiring from the saddle, Bradley has continued the link-up with McManaman and Fowler. He has bought four horses for the race-loving pair, who can sometimes be found under the owner's name on a racecard as the Anfield Hombres. Live coverage of four races at the Grand National Meeting from 5-7 April on BBC TV, Five Live and Sport Online. The Grand National is at 1545 BST/1445 GMT on Saturday 7 April. | |
See also:  02 Apr 01 | Grand National 01 Apr 01 | Grand National 01 Apr 01 | Other Sports Top Grand National stories now: Links to more Grand National stories are at the foot of the page. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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