Catching up with CopyBet brand ambassador, Johnny Burke

First things first, how would you reflect on your Grand National experience?

Yeah it was great. It's been a busy few weeks and an exciting time for me and I was thrilled to get the ride for Willie Mullins in the National.

Can you tell us a bit more about how that ride came about and when you heard from Willie?

So on the Monday leading up to the Grand National I had no ride in the race. Then I got a message from Paul Nicholls around lunchtime saying that if I was still looking for a ride then to leave it with him. An hour later he rang and booked me on Stay Away Fay which I was delighted with.

Later that same day I was racing in Wincanton and my agent texted me to say we've got a problem. So I rang him and said "what's the problem?" and he says "Willie Mullins wants you to ride Minella Cocooner in the National". The political thing to have done would have been to stick with Paul Nicholls' ride. But from a business point of view, the best chance in the race for me was Minella Cocooner. So my agent made the call to Paul and it didn't go down particularly well but I respect that from Paul, he was fully entitled to feel annoyed!

So I found myself in a very surreal situation where a few hours before that I'd had no ride in the race and then suddenly I had two and not just any, they were from Paul Nicholls and Willie Mullins.

Is that a situation that you've been in before or is it quite rare to have more than one ride request for the same race?

Yeah it does happen from time to time. There are times when you get a spare ride and then a better spare ride comes up and then you have to make a decision that you know might upset a few people. I actually did the same thing for the Scottish National on Saturday and that went well for me. Sometimes you end up making the wrong call and in general I try to stick to my first offer but occasionally you have to go with what makes most commercial sense and which one has the better chance of winning.

You finished seventh on Minella Cocooner in the Grand National. You must have been pleased with that?

I was delighted with it. He gave me a great ride, travelled and jumped great. Almost a little too well I'd say as I was probably a couple of places closer to the front than I needed to be at that stage of the race. There were points in the race where I thought this is happening and I could actually win this, but he just got a bit tired towards the end. Of my six rides in the National he's probably the best ride that I've had over the fences at Aintree so it was a real thrill to be part of it and to ride for Willie. It's a special race.

Now that you've got a little bit of time to reflect on the year so far, how would you rate your start to 2025?

I'm very happy with how things are going. My numbers are well up. I am ten winners ahead of where I was in my best ever season to date, which was 63 winners. I am on 74 winners right now are still have a couple of weeks left to push for a few more. It would be fantastic to get to 80 if I can.

I've had a few frustrating big rides recently, like finishing second in the Topham was gutting. Lisnamult Lad gave me a great ride and I was winning that one all the way to the last furlong before a loose horse slightly impeded us. But in terms of the whole season and the numbers, I've never been busier. My rides are up and my winners are up. When you're busy and you're riding some good horses for good people it doesn't really feel like work you know. I am at a stage in my career, at 29-years-of-age where I am just really enjoying it and trying to make the most of the jockey career that I have.