THERE'S an old adage that success breeds success and, for Grand National winning jockey Graham Lee, the claim certainly seems to ring true. Lee, who is based at Ingleby Barwick, produced the ride of his life to steer Amberleigh House to the most dramatic of victories in last weekend's Aintree marathon.

The success has catapulted the unassuming 28-year-old into sporting folklore, and seen him go one better than the racing legend who had a profound effect on his career path. Lee was little more than a journeyman jockey plying his trade on the northern jumps circuit when foot-and-mouth devastated the racing programme in early 2001.

But instead of returning to his native Ireland to pick up any spare rides going, Lee opted to move in with champion jockey and longtime friend Tony McCoy and ride out for trainer John Gosden.

The adopted Teessider has never looked back and, while he doesn't credit the stay with any technical improvement, he is adamant that being around someone as successful as McCoy produced a significant change in fortune.

"When the whole foot-and-mouth thing blew up I made the decision pretty early to go and stay with Tony," says Lee. "I'd known him from way back and it just seemed like the right thing to do.

"I wouldn't say that I learned anything from being with him particularly. But sometimes when you are around good people, good things happen to you.

"Things do seem to have changed a bit for me since then, building up to winning the National, but there have been a lot of other things that have moulded my career as well."

Lee's Aintree success caps a remarkable turnaround in fortunes since he first arrived in England ten years ago. His apprenticeship in Ireland had been nothing startling, producing two winners from "70 or 80 rides".

But North Yorkshire trainer Mary Reveley had seen enough potential to offer him his first job on this side of the Irish Sea in October 1993.

"Getting the chance to work for Mary was great for me," says Lee. "It helped to turn me into the jockey that I am today and I'll be forever grateful for that.

"But it wasn't a case of things happening overnight. Everything built up slowly while I gradually got more and more experience. I rode 28 winners one year, but I got a lot of injuries and they stopped me ever really getting going.

"I had a bad leg injury, broke my collar bone and just seemed to pick up other problems that kept on pushing me back. There was never really a plan to move on from there, but it just sort of happened over time."

Lee made the decision to remain based in the North and, after a year of picking up freelance rides as and when they emerged, he gradually began to forge a partnership with County Durham trainer Howard Johnson.

That partnership has blossomed this season, with Lee benefiting from the massive investment made at Johnson's White Lea stables by North-East billionaire Graham Wylie.

Wylie, who was the co-founder of computer giant Sage, owns a string of top-class horses that are set to compete in some of the biggest races in the calendar for many years to come.

'IT'S been a great time to be involved," admits Lee. "You don't like to look too far into the future but there are obviously a lot of nice horses there who have good prospects. I'd had some good times this season, even before the National, and it's great to get the kind of rides that have been coming my way."

Last weekend provided the best ride of them all but, with Johnson not saddling a runner at Aintree, Lee was aboard Amberleigh House for Aintree legend Ginger McCain.

McCain, who trained Red Rum to triple Grand National glory in the 1970s, always fancied Amberleigh House as a potential winner over the National fences. But even he can't have imagined how dramatic the horse's three-length win would be.

It might be a racing truism that a jockey is only as good as the horse underneath him, but all racing commentators were united in agreeing that Amberleigh House would not have won had it not been for Lee's exploits in the saddle.

The jockey was forced to sit tight on the first circuit, plotting a course to avoid the multiple fallers that were tumbling to the floor all around him. Amberleigh House had virtually tailed off as the field passed the winning post for the first time but, on the second circuit, his noseband and hooped hat gradually became increasingly prominent.

He still looked a likely loser going over the last but Lee had timed his charge to perfection and, as Clan Royal and Lord Atterbury wandered and wavered as they approached the Elbow, he steered Amberleigh House around the outside to glory.

"My most vivid recollection of the race is Jurancon falling right in front of me at the fourth fence," says Lee. "And then the same horse went right in front of me at Becher's.

"My horse lost all its momentum at those two points so I had to let him feel his way back into the race. I knew we were a long way back, but I also knew he would stay all day and that the others would start to come back a bit.

"Coming round the final bend I knew we had a chance. If I'm being honest, I probably didn't think we would win but, going over the last, I knew we would be there or thereabouts because the other two were very tired."

LEE was cheered all the way to the weighing room amidst a tide of emotion and euphoria but, just 24 hours later, he was to be found riding a 44-1 double in the somewhat more sedate environs of Hexham. Somehow it's difficult to imagine David Beckham turning out at Hartlepool a day after winning the World Cup. "I got a bit of ribbing about that," admits Lee. "People said I should be enjoying myself, but I don't drink anyway and riding is my job and I enjoy that.

"Everything's gone a bit crazy since the National and I've got to admit I've got mixed emotions about it all. It's nice to have all the attention and have people wanting to talk to you all the time.

"But it'll also be nice to be able to ride a winner at Kelso and nobody think anything about it. I would think that time will be back soon." With many more rides like the one he gave on Saturday, that might not be such a safe bet.