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GRAND NATIONAL THEY SAID IT APRIL 6, 2013 "When I was 11, I broke my arm and they took me to hospital to mend it. When they mended it they put you out with gas in those days, and they used to give you a bowl to be sick in. I put the bowl on my head and the nurse said what are you doing. I told her I'd just won the Grand National -- it's taken another 65 years to do it." —Harvey Smith, husband of Sue Smith, who trains Saturday's Grand National hero Auroras Encore "I rode around here years ago, and the fences weren't soft and pussy-foot like they are now, but it was some experience and led us in a little bit to us doing the job." —Smith on how much tougher the Aintree circuit used to be "National Hunt racing is far better than the Flat stuff, and I think racing in the north will come back with a bang after this." —Smith pulls no punches about his views of the Flat "I had 45 years of show jumping and won my first major championship in 1956, when most people here were not even a twinkle in their parents' eyes. This is conquering England, but I conquered the world in that." —Smith on his career in the far different discipline of show jumping "I was chatting to another trainer the other day, and his father always said there's two chairs that will kill you -- the electric chair and the armchair." —Smith on why he stays active "I don't know where my missus is -- she's probably collapsed!" —Smith on the trainer's whereabouts "I feel sorry for Mr. and Mrs. Skene, who used to own the horse. They weren't well so sold the horse because of ill health." —Sue Smith on the former owners, who sold Auroras Encore at Christmastime "I used to come here with my godmother, who was a nun and worked for the archbishop, and she would save all her free tickets and bring us here." —Jim Beaumont, who co-owns the winner with Douglas Pryde and David van der Hoeven "I used to work at the Adelphi Hotel (in Liverpool) where all the jockeys used to stay. That was when I was about 14, so we are talking about 1948, and the Grand National was always a big day." —Beaumont on his brush with Grand National-winning riders of old "It was a hard decision, but I was unsure what to do and wanted to clear my head and figure out my next move. It was a sabbatical and I thought I'd take a whole year out, but I missed racing after six months. I enjoyed my time with the hunt, but it's not racing, and then Sue and Harvey (Smith) took me back and it's been going great since then." —winning jockey Ryan Mania on leaving the sport back in 2011 "The race kind of went by in a flash. I tried to jump off around about the jockeys that have been round before. I have got my bit of light, jumped off exactly where I wanted to be and he has taken to the fences. He has jumped from fence to fence and I couldn't believe the run I got." —Mania on his trip aboard Auroras Encore "I couldn't have asked for a better ride and the old horse was loving it as well. I couldn't believe, even at the Melling Road, that I was still there. I was happy to be placed at that point and then the front two stopped and I took off in front of them -- it was unbelievable." —Mania on when he began to get his hopes up "I'll be going to bed early -- I'm riding at Hexham tomorrow." —Mania on how he will celebrate Saturday night
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