Dermot McLoughlin became the first trainer in almost half a century to win the Boylesports Irish Grand National back-to-back after Lord Lariat won at 40-1 on Easter Monday.
A year after Freewheelin Dylan shocked the racing world with a record 150-1 victory at a behind closed doors fixture, McLoughlin saddled another long-priced winner in front of a heaving Fairyhouse.
Jockey Paddy O’Hanlon guided Lord Lariat to a four and three-quarter length defeat of Frontal Assault (18-1) with the 11-2 favourite Gaillard Du Mesnil in third. Another 18-1 shot, Screaming Colours, was fourth.
Despite the long odds it was a wildly acclaimed local victory for McLoughlin who trains less than eight kilometres from Fairyhouse.
On the occasion of the 150th Irish Grand National it was an appropriately local victory too as the last trainer to retain Irish jump racing’s most valuable race was Jim Dreaper.
He completed a hat-trick in 1974-76 with Colebridge and Brown Lad twice.
The Dreaper link with McLoughlin's family goes back decades as the trainer's father, Liam, won the 1962 Irish National on Kerforo for Tom Dreaper. He also rode the legendary Arkle to his very first success.
Crowds
The first national in three years open to the public saw a massive official attendance of 15,097 and a happily raucous atmosphere that included singing in the stands on the countdown to the big race.
“We are 10 minutes down the road. There was nobody here last year but my wife and kids and everyone is here this year so it is unbelievable,” said McLoughlin who trains a string of 40 and once again looked to cut the most composed figure on the track.
Despite some concerns about Lord Lariat’s stamina, the plan was to adopt similarly positive tactics as worked on Freewheelin Dylan and they paid off in spectacular fashion.
Both the winner and runner up dominated the lead for most of the race and when Gaillard Du Mesnil’s big weight started to tell in the straight, the pair had it between themselves.
A 7lb claim employed by O’Hanlon ultimately proved crucial as Lord Lariat kept going in style to land the €270,000 first prize.
The 23 year-old rider, originally from Glasnevin in Dublin, and whose dreams of making it on the flat were dashed by weight issues, grabbed his opportunity with aplomb.
In his downtime O’Hanlon has moved from taking flying lessons to having a licence to fly solo but looked happy enough on Monday to be able to circle the nearby airport on his own.
“Dermot filled me with a lot of confidence beforehand and we got out near the front, got into a good rhythm and he was spot on. He stays well and battled all the way to the line.
“I came here absolutely buzzing to have a ride in the race - to win it is brilliant,” O’Hanlon said.
The jockey first started riding out at McLoughlin’s yard when he was 15 and has returned to riding out there a couple of mornings a week.
“Paddy started off with and he was going to be a flat jockey for a while. He went over to England and tried the flat there but had no luck and came back and rode a couple of winners for me on the flat.
“I said ‘Paddy, forget about the flat, you’re going to be a big lad’ and he took to jumping like a duck to water.
“He won a couple of hurdle races and it went from there. He’s flying now,” McLoughlin said.
“Our plan was to jump him out but I was a bit concerned about getting the trip.
“Obviously we wanted to get a start like we did last year and utilise his jumping as he is a good jumper.
“Paddy said he got plenty of breathers into him and it all worked out well.
“We’ve been aiming for this since before Christmas. He won a ladies’ race here in November when he ran away with the jockey, Joanna Walton. She said then that he would get further,” he added.
For a second year in a row Jack Kennedy had to settle for the runner up spot behind a McLoughlin trained winner despite Frontal Assault's gallant effort. Another popular local hope Max Flamingo was seventh while the sole cross-channel raider, Time To Get Up, was 13th. Rachael Blackmore was last of the 15 finishers on Full Time Score.
Clerk of the course Brendan Sheridan confirmed all 27 runners were unscathed after the big race.
The crowd was up almost 3,000 on the last National attended by the public in 2019 and Fairyhouse’s manager Peter Roe said: “We couldn’t ask for more. It was a great crowd in a great atmosphere. Dermot was by himself last year but not today!”
