Suffice it to say, I put the hoarse back into horse racing yesterday afternoon. I haven't screamed so much at the TV since I dropped it on my foot getting it out of the box. As Neptune Collonges ran up the home straight at Aintree in second place, closing in on the leader with every agonising step, I was literally on my knees in front of the television, shouting like a nutter.

But a nutter who can now afford to retire. For a couple of days at least. When I was drawing up my shortlist for the Grand National yesterday morning, I actually had Neptune Collonges as the winner. But before going to press at 13:13 (which is unlucky for some), I had a last minute change of heart, scribbled out '1st', and swapped it for The Midnight Club...


By that point, however, the bets were already down. At 12:52pm yesterday, I went on to Blue Square and put £3 each-way on Neptune Collonges...


Twelve minutes later, as the odds crept out, I stuck another two quid on him at Betfair...


It's what you call a win-win situation. Even with my losing bets on the others, I still made a clear profit of over two hundred pounds. Although I might have to spend some of it on throat sweets. My voice still hasn't recovered.