National hero: Connor O'Farrell guides Minella Four Star home.

Conor O'Farrell made it a week he will never forget as he steered the David Pipe-trained Minella Four Starto glory in the totesport.com Midlands Grand National at Uttoxeter.

Minella Four Star - National hero: Connor O'Farrell guides Minella Four Star home

Following hot on the heels of Pipe's two Festival winners with Buena Vista and Junior, Minella Four Star ground his rivals into submission in the stamina-sapping marathon over four and a quarter miles.
In a race full of incident, in which on-course gamble Tricky Trickster fell at the second fence and Synchronised did not return to unsaddle, Minella Four Star looked a relatively fresh horse as he bounded home.  

Belfast Telegraph March 19 2011 - Minella Four Star en route to Midlands Grand National glory

O'Farrell, a 21-year-old from Kilkenny, added: "He galloped and jumped superbly the whole way. After each fence he took a gulp of air and headed for the next. He was relentless and is an out and out stayer."