Mania delighted to be back Grand National-winning rider Ryan Mania turned his back on the sport for six months as he struggled for rides at the end of 2011. Mania lost opportunities when Howard Johnson was banned from the sport while the death of another of his long-time supporters, Peter Monteith, also hit the 23-year-old hard. But a meeting with Harvey Smith, wife of Sue, the trainer of the winner Auroras Encore, saw Scots-born Mania handed the chance to ride out for the Yorkshire stable. "Two years ago I gave up for six months because the rides had dried up, but Sue and Harvey took me in," Mania said as he tried to take the victory in. "The opportunities up north aren't as great as they used to be and I took some time out. "Harvey came to see me at the races one day and said 'Come and ride out'. It was lucky for me - and unlucky for him - that Henry Oliver got injured at that point so I started getting some rides and we've never looked back since then. "To have Sue and Harvey behind me is amazing. The amount they know about horses is incredible. If you've got someone behind you saying 'It's okay - there's another day' then that helps. "I realise this will change my life, but I can't go too mad tonight because I am at Hexham tomorrow." Mania, who had never ridden in the race before, said it would take "weeks" before his achievement began to sink in. "I can't believe it," he said. "You can't put it into words what it means. Realistically I thought that if he finished we'd have run a great race. "It's very rare that anybody can say everything went to plan in the National but that's what happened for me. Everything happened the way I would have wanted it to. "I always thought if you got to Becher's the second time you can start thinking about it and when I got there it was going fine. Then when we got to the Melling Road I just couldn't believe how well we were travelling. "I got to the line and I was just shaking my head in disbelief. It was just mental. You just feel 'pinch me' and I don't think I have woken up yet."
