'It was hard to take that we had just bumped into one'
Graham Dench speaks to the jockey of National hope The Last Samuri
For more than nine glorious minutes at Aintree last April David Bass lived the dream on jump racing's greatest stage as The Last Samuri bowled along in the front rank, taking fence after fence perfectly in his stride.
Joint-favourite and 12lb well in, Kim Bailey's highly progressive eight-year-old was always going to be a force to reckon with so long as he took to the fences, and he could hardly have adapted better.
Heading back from the Canal Turn for the second time, disputing the lead with Many Clouds, The Last Samuri might never have looked in complete command, but he was always very much the one to beat once the 2015 winner blundered on his inner five fences from home.
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