Robert Walford

“WE would have won, for sure,” Robert Walford laughs hollowly. “This would have been our year.” He trains Walk In the Mill (Miller), who was among the favourites for the 2020 Grand National before it was abandoned. Last Saturday, instead of saddling up the 10-year-old for the Aintree showpiece and sending him out to improve on last year’s fourth, Robert was roughing off most of his string and pretending it’s already summertime.

“We’ve packed up six to eight weeks before normal,” says Robert. “I don’t think we’ll be racing before the end of July. We’re doing what we’d normally do with the novice hurdlers and bumper horses in May, giving them a school over fences and preparing for next season.”

Next year, Miller will be 11 and Robert shrugs at the idea of a veteran winning the National. In reality, there have been