Many victories for Clouds a welcome tonic for National heroes

On Saturday all eyes were trained on Sandown, where Un De Sceaux and Sire De Grugy went toe-to-toe over the last couple of fences in a thrilling Tingle Creek.

The race is invariably a fine showcase for the sport, with the best two-milers charging headlong over those seven fences down Sandown's back straight. Some 200 miles to the north-west, however, an equally beguiling spectacle unfolded over the famous birch at Aintree.

Both races run over the Grand National course made for exciting viewing, with any number of horses taking flight over the unique obstacles. Some of the leaps were breathtaking enough but the best thing was that the races could be watched from atop the sofa, rather than behind it.