Paul Townend 'delighted' after Irish Grand National triumph

Before the runners went to post in the €500,000 Boylesports Irish Grand National at Fairyhouse yesterday, Ricky Doyle and Paddy O'Hanlon each rode a winner on the card.

For some punters, this might have been a signal to follow a jockey with the National on their CV in the big one - Doyle won the 2021 National on Freewheelin Dylan; O'Hanlon was successful last year on Lord Lariat. Both were long shots.

Was Ireland's richest jump race about to cough up another shock?

No one would have been taken aback had it come to pass but, on a grim afternoon more suited to mid-winter than April, the old order was restored as the leading owner, trainer and jockey in Ireland executed a masterful coup.

I Am Maximus was very much the greatest on the day, but the seven-year-old needed every encouragement from Paul Townend to land a fourth Irish National for JP McManus, and a second for Willie Mullins.

Arguably, this was Townend's finest hour as he coaxed I Am Maximus to give of his best and deliver a late burst of pace that provided decisive on strengthsapping turf.

Not too many Irish National winners jump the second-last fence in sixth place, but Townend wasn't able to lie up close to the pace set by Defi Bleu and Fire Attack in the three-mile, five-furlong marathon.

Instead, he had his work cut out, stoking away on his charge whose reluctance to switch on was evident from the second fence.

By the sixth, Townend had resorted to his whip and was scrubbing hard on the 8/1 shot.

His encouragement and exhortations paid off as I Am Maximus, a close fourth at the last, picked up on landing and scooted a length clear of Gevrey, a spare ride for Brian Hayes, and the gritty Defi Bleu under Gavin Brouder.

Usually a cool customer, Townend was emotional after his first National success, which followed his peach of a ride on Galopin Des Champs in the Gold Cup last month.

'The Irish National is a huge race in the calendar. It's such a historic race and so hard to win. I'm delighted to do it,' said the 32-year-old Cork native.

'My record in it before today wasn't great and it was looking unlikely for a long way today but you never write off one of Willie's,' he said, grinning.

'It took a while for him to warm up and it turned into a war of attrition. We always thought he had the ability between the fences, we banked on him jumping the last and we got it.'

Townend's masterful ride earned acclaim from judges of the highest calibre.

'That's why Paul has the job he has. He was brilliant in the Gold Cup, I thought it was as good a ride as I ever saw in the Gold Cup but that might even have been better,' said AP McCoy, who won the National on Butler's Cabin in 2007. I still think the Gold Cup is the Gold Cup, while the Irish National is a handicap, but it's as good a ride as you'll ever see and that's why Paul Townend is where he is.

'You don't ride the horses and the winners that he has without being as talented as him. It was topclass,' he added.

McManus, who has seen it all since Bit Of A Skite won the National in 1983, felt the ride was right up there with the best.

'To win the Irish National is so special, it is the number one race in the Irish horse racing calendar for me and I'm sure everyone else.

'I must compliment Paul on the excellent ride. You can talk about the ride in the Gold Cup or whatever but I don't think anything surpasses that,' he said.

This was the first time I Am Maximus ran in the McManus silks of emerald green and orange hoops as he was purchased on March 22, following a credible fourth to The Real Whacker in the Brown Advisory Chase at Cheltenham.

It's not known what McManus paid Mike Grech, but the €270,000 first prize yesterday would have certainly helped cover the outgoings. There was also strong support for the winner, backed from 14/1 to 8/1 before the off.

Missing from the party was Mullins, who is on the mend after hip surgery, and calling the shots from his Closutton base.

On Saturday, the champion trainer saddled eight winners and yesterday he had four more, three at Fairyhouse, to take his tally for the season in Ireland to 217, another record high.

I Am Maximus is only the second horse since 2000 to carry more than 11 stone to win the Irish National, which suggests a touch of class. A bit like his jockey.