Johnson ride was a lesson in sheer class

It is one of the enduring mysteries of modern National Hunt racing that Richard Johnson does not get more recognition, for there are times when the jockey is nothing short of a genius.

Only the second jockey to ride 2,000 winners over the sticks, and set to be runner-up in the jockeys' championship for the 13th time, Johnson's fate is to have been a wonderful rider at the same time as the greatest of them all, Tony McCoy.

On Saturday at Ayr, Johnson pushed his great friend aside and took centre stage to produce a ride of quite breathtaking brilliance aboard Beshabar to win his first Scottish Grand National at his 14th time of asking.

The mark of the greatest jockeys is to win races any which way you can, but always the most difficult method is from the front, pacing the race to leave your horse enough energy to make it over the line in front.

It's a difficult enough task in a five-furlong sprint at Musselburgh, but to do that in a four mile marathon steeplechase, one of the UK's most prestigious handicaps at that, is sublime jockeyship. Johnson admitted afterwards that his intention had been to lie handy near the front with Beshabar, but after Scotland's hope, last year's winner Merigo, defied an interrupted preparation to run way above expectations, Johnson had to go head-to-head with Timmy Murphy, both men proving faultless at placing their horses at the jumps and forging ahead of the pack on the second circuit.

In the home straight, only Always Right under James Reveley emerged from the pack to challenge the front-running pair, but at the last fence Beshabar went three lengths ahead. Always Right battled on and looked booked for second until Murphy conjured up another rally from Merigo and both closed on the leader in the final yards. Johnson had conserved just enough energy and Beshabar held on for victory and the 100,000 prize by three-quarters of a length from the gallant Merigo with Always Right a neck away in third.

As eight-times champion jockey Peter Scudamore once memorably wrote, Johnson is "truly a champion in all but name," and he is also one of the most modest men in sport, accepting that McCoy has been the better jockey over the years.

"Tony is a great friend of mine," said Johnson, "and though I've always wanted to be champion, the fact is he has ridden more winners than me."

Johnson at 33 is three years younger than McCoy, and time is on his side for an eventual title: "I will keep going as long as I enjoy it and the owners and trainers support me. I have tried 14 times to win the Scottish National and now I've done it which proves you just have to keep trying." One of the first thoughts by Beshabar's trainer Tim Vaughan was for Scottish gambler and owner Harry Findlay, whose share in the winner was sold only last week to Middleham Park Racing. Findlay has announced he is quitting racing after his travails with the sports governing bodies, though his mother Margaret, 79, in whose colours the winner ran, will continue her association with the sport.

"It's a crying shame to see Harry Findlay out of the sport," said Vaughan. "This is a great signing-off note for him and to be honest, I think it will only be a matter of time before we see him back. He's been massive for me and it's a shame I didn't catch him on the way up rather on the way out, but the man is larger than life and he'll bounce back like a lion, I'm sure of it."

Vaughan will now aim Beshabar, who is still a novice, at Aintree next year, but runner-up Merigo will almost certainly be back for another crack at Ayr's biggest race, according to owner Raymond Anderson Green and trainer Andrew Parker. The 14,000 spectators saw other great jockeys at their best, Ruby Walsh timing his run to perfection aboard Sanctuaire to win the Isle of Skye Blended Whisky Scottish Champion Hurdle, and Paul Carberry proving there is no greater stylist in the saddle on top weight Russian War in the Ayrshire Hospice Handicap Hurdle.

There was even the rare sight of Tony McCoy being bested in a driving finish as Grand and Scottish National-winning jockey Graham Lee cajoled Beggars Cap home on the line to beat McCoy aboard I'msingingtheblues. An honourable mention, too, for young conditional Lizzie Butterworth who proved you can ride a finish without a whip aboard her mother Barbara's Knight Valiant in the Purvis Marquees Racing Excellence ‘Hands and Heels' finale handicap hurdle.

On the day, however, it was Richard Johnson who took top honours. He really does deserve to be better known than just Zara Phillips' ex-boyfriend.