Change of luck as Party Business gets the celebrations started

Saturday: Aintree

One-seventieth of the 70,000 sellout crowd got the perfect start to Grand National day as Party Business had a change of luck in the opening £75,000 hurdle.

But the watching thousand being entertained by hospitality company Eventmasters, who own the 11-2 shot, had to be patient through much of the 3m½f contest – and Ian Williams feared he had got them to Aintree on false pretences.

After the six-year-old, a faller in the Challow Hurdle at Newbury who had been a luckless fifth in the Martin Pipe Hurdle at Cheltenham, had battled to a three-quarters-of-a-length triumph under Charlie Todd, his trainer said: "It was anxious watching him early on.

"He just didn't travel, I presume it was a lot to do with the trouble he got into at Cheltenham – he's going to remember that as he was nearly brought down.

"He didn't pick up the bridle, he didn't travel and he didn't jump and he was obliged to go very wide turning for home. I'd said to Charlie, 'If you get the opportunity, don't take it up before the last,' and three out we were in front and I thought it was going to be a long way but he was tough."

Success meant a lot to Williams, who said: "It's great for the owners. Mark Sheasby and Eventmasters have worked with us for 20 years so it's great to have a big winner for them and be here on the big stage.

"They've got a thousand people here today. Mark was really anti running at Liverpool until about three days ago and when I was watching the horse running down the back straight on the first circuit I thought he was probably right, but fortunately he's got his confidence and he put up a sterling effort.

"He fell in the Challow when he was going so well and nearly getting brought down at Cheltenham was very tough for him but he was a well-handicapped horse and he's shown that today. We'll go chasing with him next season — he's bred to be a chaser so let's get on and do that."

Honeyball: 'We bottled it in the National but this is a brilliant surprise'

He may have been pigeon-holed as a mudlark but Sam Brown came alive on the spring ground to run out a surprise winner of the Betway Handicap Chase for Anthony Honeyball and Aidan Coleman.

Honeyball admitted to having slightly "bottled it" in sidestepping the Grand National with Sam Brown but described himself as being thrilled – and surprised – that his horse could land a major payday on spring ground.

He said: "We bottled it in some ways but we'd a lot of picking up to do after the Haydock run – it was a bit of a car crash really. It probably came too soon after the Peter Marsh. To have him win like that today, what a bonus – it's safe ground but it's probably not his ground."

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