Papillon. French for butterfly and the title of Henry Charriere's memoir about the time he spent trying to escape from a penal colony in French Guyana. Later made into a movie with Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman.

Any correlations to be drawn there? Perhaps not, although a delighted Ruby Walsh proclaimed after the 2000 Aintree Grand National that the bay gelding glided over the notoriously troublesome fences at Aintree as if they weren't there, floating like a butterfly, before holding off a serious challenge from Mely Moss to claim a famous victory.

Of course, this was a massive day for the Walsh family, an occasion of pure release. With Tribune columnist Ruby riding his first Aintree showpiece there was no better place to start than with a mount he knew so well. His father Ted trained Papillon at his yard in Kill, Co Kildare and together they had an inkling that things might just go their way.

Amazingly, Papillon was available at 33-1 the night before the race, but a few tipsters glanced his way in the morning papers and the accompanying wagers prompted the bookies to cut his odds throughout the afternoon before starting at 10-1.

The heavily backed Star Traveller and Lucky Town were among those to show early on. Many Irish eyes were drawn towards Micko's Dream, a horse owned by 24 Irish prison officers which had won the Thyestes Chase, but a mistake at the first sent him crashing to earth Defending champion Bobbyjo, the original Irish father-son winning combination for Tommy and Paul Carberry in 1999, was also showing well but Walsh and Papillon just kept moving as others rose and fell like the tide.

The favourite Dark Stranger unseated Tony McCoy at the third while Star Traveller pulled up injured. With the business end of the race approaching, Papillon's strength brought him into a share of the lead with Lucky Town and Mely Moss, who hadn't run in 346 days, now closing in.

But Lucky Town faded and in a fantastic grandstand finish Papillon showed his strength and desire to open up a small gap and win by a length and a half from Mely Moss.

Crossing the line an exultant Walsh, wearing green, rose from his saddle to salute the crowd and the grin that was on the 20year-old's face stayed there for most of the evening.

"My fella just kept picking up and picking up and once I reached the last I never thought anything was going to get past me, " he said. "I think I might do a bit of celebrating tonight."

Ted, for his part, was just as happy as the man in the saddle.

"I'm proud of the horse, I'm proud of the whole family and I'm proud of him [Ruby]. It's a great day to be alive." He also said it was like "watching your numbers coming up on the Lotto", a feeling shared by the many punters who had backed him throughout the week at long odds. William Hill bookmakers put it like this:

"Punters will be celebrating until Christmas and they will need wheelbarrows to collect their winnings. They will be collecting the best part of �10 million on the result."

So much for Papillon, Charriere wrote another book, you know, about getting out of jail and the joy of chasing unlikely money-making schemes. It was called Banco. Now there's a name.