Jerry O'Brien enjoying his title as breeder of National great Tiger Roll

A face in the crowds as Tiger Roll was welcomed into the Aintree winner's enclosure after the horse's historic second Grand National victory on Saturday was his modest yet charismatic breeder Jerry O'Brien.

The former member of Coolmore's veterinary staff had made the journey from his farm near Portroe, County Tipperary – home of Tiger Roll's dam Swiss Roll – to London for the weekend, with a train trip to Liverpool bookended by a visit to some of the capital's galleries.

The work of art closest to O'Brien's heart, though, is the four-time Cheltenham Festival winner and now dual National hero who he bred by sending his Entrepreneur mare Swiss Roll to Derby victor Authorized.

“I got to Aintree in the morning and walked the first three fences and then the chairman of the course and the sponsors asked me to a reception before the race, so I had a few drinks and then made my way to the parade ring for the race,” he said.

“It was a great race, he was going so well, but then he made those three mistakes coming up the straight, one, two, three, and I thought he was gone. It was great horsemanship from Davy Russell that he stayed upright.”

One memory from the day in particular brought home for O'Brien how Tiger Roll has become an icon of the sport.

He said: “There was a lady standing beside me with a kid in a pushchair as we waited for the horses to come back in, and he was saying 'mummy, mummy when is the Tiger coming?'

"The horse has captured the imagination and given so much pleasure to everyone – it's great for racing.”

O'Brien, recipient of the National Hunt achievement prize at the ITBA awards in January, has been responding to phone calls from friends and messages of congratulations from well-wishers since his return to Tipperary.

As for the 19-year-old Swiss Roll, she is due to give birth to a Teofilo foal who will be a full-sibling to the progressive stayer Austrian School, given a positive report by trainer Mark Johnston in his stable tour in Monday's Racing Post, in a couple of weeks.

The mare has a yearling filly by Exceed And Excel who is likely heading for the sales this autumn – which one depends on the advice of Bill Dwan, who prepared Tiger Roll to be sold as a foal and is dubbed 'The Guru' by O'Brien – while she also has a two-year-old colt by Teofilo.

Mating plans for this year are undecided.

Swiss Roll, who had previously produced Godolphin's Lonsdale Cup winner Ahzeemah to Dubawi, won middle-distance contests at Fairyhouse and Galway in her own racing career. She is a sister to Berenson, who ran second to Dubawi in the National Stakes, and a half-sister to Park Express Stakes and Irish Lincolnshire winner Pollen and useful hurdler and chaser Khachaturian.

O'Brien got into the family through Swiss Roll's dam On Air, a daughter of Chief Singer who encapsulated the family's future dual-purpose prowess as she was a winner both on the Flat and over hurdles, finishing fourth in black-type company in both disciplines.

IN HIS OWN WORDS: JERRY O'BRIEN ON TIGER ROLL

Sometimes less is more, and words cannot describe the virtuosity and artistry displayed by Davy Russell on board Aintree's hero, Tiger Roll, amplified and embellished by the brilliance of trainer Gordon Elliott and his team. You have to see it to believe it.

I would like to thank Rose Paterson, chairman of Aintree, and the sponsors Randox for inviting me to a most enjoyable reception. It was my first time at the Grand National and what a day to remember; unlike true love, it will last forever.

My grandfather in the auld days used to attend the Grand National every year as a spectator, as he was over and back from Ireland to Birkenhead shipping cattle on a weekly basis.

His son, my father – like me, an only child – never got the chance to follow his father. He ended up in Smithfield market in London trading meat for 20 years until finally he came home to my mother and me to open a butcher's stall. We had very happy and wonderful times together, and my success with Tiger Roll is for them.

Is there more to come from the Tiger? Is the glass still only half full? Only time will tell. As for him being that “little rat of a thing, not a good horse, not a class horse, just a complete overachiever”, suffice to say let sleeping dogs lie!

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