Affluential brave in Grand National Hurdle win

Jockey Will Gordon has ticked off one glaring omission from his record after Affluential took out the Grand National Hurdle at Sandown.

While Gordon had won plenty of feature races over jumps since making the move from Ireland while also making a name for himself on the flat, he had not won one of the ‘real big ones’.

That was rectified on Sunday when Affluential scored in the 4200m contest at Sandown.

Sent out the $1.95 bookmakers favourite, Affluential scored by 1-¾ lengths from The Good Fight ($16) with Leaderboard ($12) a further 2-¼ lengths away third.

“I had won a few features, but not one of the real big ones and I was lacking that off my record a touch,” Gordon said.

“To be tipped out in the Grand Annual (Steeplechase) was a hard one to take and to have this race circled from a while out, there was a bit of pressure building.

“You find yourself driving home from Mildura, or somewhere, it pops into your mind, and you end up thinking about it for half-an-hour, but to pull it off, it’s pretty good.”

Gordon said Affluential proved a difficult ride after pulling hard for more than half the race.

But the jockey said he was a serious horse to win after the way he had raced.

“I haven’t had a blow, or a sweat, like that after a race for ages and the arms are a few inches longer,” Gordon said.

“That’s alright as he got the job done but at no point during that race was I that comfortable.

“He over-raced for the majority and to do what he did there, is pretty remarkable.”

Affluential’s win was the second in the Grand National for trainer John Leek after he combined with his wife Andrea with Team Heritage in 2004.

Gordon said he needed to thank trainer Leek, Andrea and their son Mitch for having Affluential well prepared for Sunday’s race.

Affluential was having only his fourth jumps start and Gordon said he had a long future ahead.

“They ran him in exactly the right races to prepare him for this race and the preparation has been faultless,” Gordon said.

“They know what they’re doing.”

An emotional Leek said he got a lot of satisfaction out of Sunday’s win, although he admitted he thought Affluential had blown his chances by over-racing.

“He was on the steel, and I was worried about him hitting the front too soon,” Leek said.

“When that other horse came to him, I thought, ‘Oh God’, but he seemed to kick and had something there in the locker, so that was exciting.

“I can’t believe it.”