Oh, Gino took the stage all right but Walk In The Park and Authorized stole their share of Aintree limelight

A bob of the head proved fairly immaterial to the results at both the Aintree Grand National meeting and the overall British and Irish National Hunt sires' championship. 

Walk In The Park's Grade 1 double on Friday's card from his reliable servant Jonbon in the Melling Chase and a new strike at the top table from up-and-coming jumper Inothewayurthinkin in the Mildmay Novices' Chase had carried the Coolmore sire ever closer to a maiden title, which has looked inevitable for some weeks now.

The likeable Master Chewy was nutted on the line by Found A Fifty in Saturday's Maghull Novices' Chase, but Walk In The Park still finished as Aintree's leading sire. He also now has a lead of around £1 million in the sires' table, with only a few major meetings to come.