In his fifth attempt to win the race, 11-year-old Vintage Clouds took victory in the Ultima Handicap at Cheltenham on Tuesday.
The Sue Smith-trained runner had previously fallen, finished second, third and eighth in the race.
At 28/1, with Ryan Mania aboard, he won by five-and-a-half lengths from favourite Happygolucky.
The victory capped a great comeback story for the winning jockey. Mania won the 2013 Grand National on Auroras Encore but called time on his career in 2014 aged just 25. He came out of retirement in late 2019.
"18 months after winning the Grand National, I was in a dark space," Mania told ITV Racing after Tuesday's race.
"I saw no other way out than to walk away from the sport that I love. I was enticed back with unfinished business being the main reason. Luckily, I've come back and it's all gone really well."
"To be honest I never thought I'd hear those words."
Brilliant interview with Ryan Mania after he rode his first ever Cheltenham Festival winner on Vintage Clouds. #CheltenhamFestival #VMTVRacing pic.twitter.com/jSVXd0JNLJ— Virgin Media Sport (@VMSportIE) March 16, 2021
Asked what it felt like to ride a winner at Cheltenham, the Scot replied:
"I'll be honest, I never, ever thought I'd hear those words. It's been a long road back. I took nearly five years out of the game. To come back to Cheltenham... I was lucky to get rides not to mind winners. I'm absolutely over the moon.
"It's a hell of a training performance as well. This horse has been a real stalwart in the yard. I said to them that he needed a wind up. The cheekpieces have helped. He was loving it the whole way around. Never did I think he'd storm up the hill the way he did."
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