Racing:There was a fairytale 33 to 1 success for the connections of Lion Na Bearnai in the Ladbrokes Irish Grand National as local trainer Tom Gibney and journeyman jockey Andrew Thornton enjoyed a dream afternoon at Fairyhouse.
In hindsight he looked a big price given he had beaten the favourite Four Commanders when they last met in the Ten Up Novice Chase at Navan and he showed plenty of guts and stamina to prevail once again.
He looked a sitting duck for Edward O’Grady’s Out Now in the straight but the 10-year-old wanted it more after the last and went on to win by four and a half lengths. Cheltenham winner Alfie Sherrin was third, with Paddy Pub fourth.
“I only have the five horses and this is unbelievable, just brilliant,” said Gibney. “The last day was the real shock and we were confident coming here but we were afraid to say it.
“Andrew is a brilliant rider, much under-rated, and he gave him a copybook ride, the whole thing was copybook. He is only a pony and anyone could ride him at home.”
Thornton added: “That’s absolutely unbelievable and full credit to the horse. He is tough and he jumped like a stag. He is very gutsy and never put a foot wrong. I was squeezed for room at the fence in front of the stands but otherwise everything went great through the race.”
Tom Mullins's Alderwoodprovided Tony McCoy with a winner in the County Hurdle at Cheltenham and while he may have employed different tactics in the Rathbarry & Glenview Studs Novice Hurdle, the result was the same.
Lack of early pace saw McCoy kick on early and he was not to relinquish his lead. In the end he was going away from Allure Of Illusion to win by three and a quarter lengths. Steps To Freedom was ultimately disappointing.
“Any winner of a County Hurdle has to be respected back in novice company and in fairness to Tom and his team they had him looking particularly well for today,” said McCoy.
Mullins added: “They can bounce after Cheltenham but half an hour after his run there it was like he didn’t have a race. I was confident enough therefore that he wasn’t feeling the effects of it.
“Tony was very worried about the pace early on so he elected to go on. I was delighted to see the rain coming today too.
“That was a similar run to Cheltenham but he was really at his best over there. Punchestown is on the agenda but he gave a good hard blow after that so we’ll just have to wait and see. I like the way he pulled away at the end.”
McCoy had earlier won on Jonjo O'Neill's Get Me Out Of Herein the Keelings Irish Strawberry Hurdle.
Second at three Cheltenham Festivals, he certainly wasn’t winning out of turn. The favourite Oscars Well was way below par.
McCoy said: “I’m glad for the horse, he deserved it. He’s been running consistently well in all those big handicaps. The conditions of this race suited him.”
O’Neill added: “He’s a great horse really and it’s lovely to see him win a race like that after all those seconds. AP knows him really well and he might go to Punchestown. I think he’ll get three miles.”
Tony Martin's Dedigoutprovided Davy Russell with his 100th winner of the season, a victory that according to Stan James sews up the jockeys' title for him as they have now paid out.
Always highly thought of, the six-year-old won his first two starts over timber before finishing a five-length third to Monksland and Lyreen Legend in the Slaney Novice Hurdle.
“He’s been running against good horses like Monksland at Naas where he made two horrendous mistakes,” said Martin.
“We tried the tongue-tie today and we thought it might help. He enjoyed the ground and the bit of rain helped him.
“We’ll look to see what’s at Punchestown for him but he’s a nice horse for the future and he’ll jump fences next year.”
The Tom Cooper-trained Lucky William(5-1 joint-favourite), a casualty at Cheltenham when still going well in the Grand Annual, defied top-weight in the Nina Carberry Novice Handicap Chase.
Willie Mullins's Balnaslow(4-1) was awarded the Racing Post Champion Point-to-Point INH Flat Race in the stewards' room at the expense of Rogue Angel.