O'Shea lives the dream and wins £16,000 in bets on Foxhunters hero Cousin Pascal

Trainer Joe O'Shea realised a dream reaching back to his formative years when training a winner over the Grand National fences thanks to Cousin Pascal's fairytale success in the Foxhunters' Chase.

And the point-to-point trainer was looking forward to celebrating, with his successful bets on the 66-1 winner bringing in £16,000. .

O'Shea, who was raised in neighbouring Greater Manchester, relived sneaking into Aintree for his first Grand National to watch Rag Trade triumph in 1976, and winning a race over the famous fences had been his ambition ever since.

"I sneaked in here and said, 'I'm going to train the winner over these National fences'," said O'Shea. "I didn't want a [full] licence, it never interested me, and I'm happy training the pointers.

"You wouldn't believe how close I've come to winning this race in the past, but this horse has improved so much since he came over from Ireland.

"He was cheap – we've spent more on champagne over a weekend than what he cost. I think the bill to get him vetted cost more than him!"

The winner's purse was £16,425 but O'Shea, a former champion point-to-point rider, revealed he would be collecting almost the same again from bet365.

"Every time I backed him his price kept going out, so I kept on backing him again and again. We've done well out of the job," said the 63-year-old, now based in Nantwich, Cheshire.

"Thanks to Aintree for putting this on – we love this place. Cheltenham means nothing to me, this is everything. If bet365 put the money in my account tonight, it will be spent tomorrow on the beer. We'll celebrate this proper – it's taken me 30 years."

Cousin Pascal provided James King with his second success in the race after victory on Dineur in 2017 and the thrill was even greater the second time around, according to the winning rider.

Gite brings house down

The Gary Moore-trained Editeur Du Gite was a game all-the-way winner of the Red Rum Handicap Chase over 2m.

He had been put up 7lb for winning at Newbury last month and briefly looked in danger as rivals closed going to the final fence, but he had enough in reserve to hold on by a length.

"I was getting a bit worried coming to the last, but I think the rest of the race sealed it," said jockey Joshua Moore.

"He gave me a great spin, he really took to the fences. He loves a flat track."

Please pleases Blackmore

Rachael Blackmore, leading rider at last month's Cheltenham Festival, rode her first winner of the Grand National meeting on the Arthur Moore-trained Me Too Please in the Grade 2 mares' bumper.

"It's really fantastic to ride a winner for Arthur Moore," she said. "I did a lot of riding out for him back in my college days, so it's great to team up with a winner."

Me Too Please tended to edge left but Blackmore said: "It was just greenness. I got a split in the straight earlier than anticipated and I was in front for quite some time. But she galloped to the line and she looks like she's going to be very nice for the future."

Results, replays and analysis

Read more from the opening day of the 2021 Grand National festival:

Lee Mottershead: Fergie revels in his Liverpool treble as Tiger Roll struggles on wrong pitch

Jack Kennedy weaves his magic as Abacadabras lasts out Aintree Hurdle trip

Harry Cobden hails Monmiral the best juvenile he's sat on after impressive win

'He hasn't been the easiest' – Protektorat strikes for Sir Alex and the Skeltons

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