Boylesports Irish Grand National |
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| Grade A Handicap, Fairyhouse 17:00 €500,000 guaranteed, 5yo plus, 3m 5f, Class 1  |
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The BoyleSports Irish Grand National rarely lacks for narrative, but this year’s renewal at Fairyhouse on Easter Monday arrives with several strands already beginning to intertwine. At the head of them sits Gordon Elliott, whose long pursuit of a first trainers’ title has brought him to the brink, even if he is the first to downplay the likelihood of finally overhauling Willie Mullins.
Better Days Ahead, a horse campaigned with this race in mind from the outset, may have to shoulder top-weight if he is to provide a decisive contribution. His recent form — second twice this year, over hurdles and fences — suggests he arrives in the right shape, though the handicap will ask its own questions.
🗣️ "He's been a great little money-spinner."@NavanRacecourse winner 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐊𝐧𝐨𝐭 likely to head to the Pertemps @CheltenhamRaces, for which he was cut to a general 20-1.
— Racing TV (@RacingTV) February 8, 2026
Runner-up Better Days Ahead could have another crack at the Irish National .. pic.twitter.com/6v9vQD24AY
Elliott, ever pragmatic, set out both the opportunity and the scale of the task: “We’ve had the season of all seasons, albeit Cheltenham wasn’t as good as we would like it, but we target all the festivals and we’ve had nine Grade One winners this season so far.
“It would be lovely to do it, but I don’t think I’ve any chance at all. I’ve been lucky enough to be second to Willie for the last 13 years, but to be honest I think I’d need to win and be second in the Irish National and Willie needs to not be in the first four and that’s not going to happen.
“The Irish National has been the plan all year for Better Days Ahead. He worked well this morning (Tuesday) and you’d love to see the ground staying like that (soft).
“I wouldn’t like to see the ground getting too quick, none of us would for a National, Better Days Ahead would definitely prefer it softer.
“He’s probably going to have top-weight which is not ideal, I’d say the weights are going to go up a fair bit looking at the entries.
“We’ll probably have five or six runners in the race. Search For Glory is at the other end of the scale, the better the ground the better his chance, for a big horse he can’t handle soft ground. He looks at the right end of the handicap.
“Shecouldbeanything runs her race every time, but whether she’s good enough to win an Irish National, I couldn’t be sure. She could run into a place.
“Wingmen could run. The trip might be a worry, but if the ground dried up he could take his chance
“I think the English horses coming over could be very dangerous. Rebecca Curtis won it last year, they ran well in the handicap chases at Punchestown and you only had to see how well handicapped they looked at Cheltenham.”
🏆LOOKAWAY WINS THE LADBROKES TROPHY🏆#ITVRacing | @jackquinlan92 | @NeilKingRacing pic.twitter.com/5qlkkXPx8h
— ITV Racing (@itvracing) February 21, 2026
That mention of British challengers is no idle aside. Among them, Neil King’s Lookaway has forced his way into calculations with a midwinter resurgence that has transformed his profile. A wide-margin success at Kempton, followed by a decisive victory in the Ladbrokes Trophy at the same venue, has marked him out as a staying handicapper very much on the rise, and one whose liking for right-handed tracks only enhances the appeal of a trip to Fairyhouse.
King, weighing up his options, said: “He’s really good (since Kempton), we decided to bypass Cheltenham though. I just felt we were in danger of running him back too soon by going there.
“He’ll actually have an entry now in the Irish Grand National on Easter Monday. He obviously goes well right-handed – he’s proved he likes Kempton for sure – and the prize-money is so good, so we thought that would be a nice idea for him.
“There’s also the bet365 Gold Cup and the three-mile handicap at Aintree on Grand National day, but first things first, we’ll look at the entries for the Irish National and go from there.”
If Lookaway represents the upward curve, then Hewick offers something rather different: a story already richly told, but not yet finished. John ‘Shark’ Hanlon’s stable star has made a career of defying expectation, from humble beginnings to victories in races as varied as the US Grand National and the King George VI Chase. Now 11, he returns to the staying chase ranks after a spin over hurdles at Cheltenham that hinted at retained enthusiasm if not quite peak fitness.
Hanlon reflected on that run with a sense that there was more to come: “Hewick has come out of Cheltenham really well, I just feel he was short of a run going into it.
“I couldn’t have been happier though with both the run and with the ride Paddy gave him, they really enjoyed themselves and get on really well together. He loved jumping and he travelled well. I just wonder if he was one piece of work short.”
The Irish National, with its blend of stamina, jumping and tactical nuance, presents a different test — but one that may suit, particularly if the weights fall kindly.
He added: “There’s plenty of options and in the Irish National he could have a lovely weight. Paddy can claim 5lb which is a big help and he might have around 11st which would be a really nice racing weight.
“Fairyhouse would be a big option for him if he gets the right ground. We’ve had so much rain here you would hope it would dry up at some point!
“There a race in Sandown he could also go for at the end of April which is a big race as well, so there’s a couple of options.
“It’s worth £175,000 and we’ve been to Sandown and enjoyed ourselves at this meeting in the past.”
Others bring their own angles. Gavin Cromwell’s Stumptown, ridden by Keith Donoghue, arrives with questions to answer but a rating that offers encouragement back on home soil, while the novice Soldier In Milan, from the Emmet Mullins yard, fits the increasingly familiar mould of a lightly raced chaser taking his chance in a race that has often rewarded such profiles.
“I don’t even know if I’ve completed in the race, I have a horrendous record in it!” said Donoghue.
“This year Stumptown would be towards the top of my pecking order. He didn’t really travel like he can at Cheltenham, but on that ground it wasn’t enough of a stamina test for him.
“He is rated 13lb lower in Ireland so that will hopefully be a little bit of a help.
“He’d tick a lot of boxes, but he’s definitely not well handicapped either. There’s a lot of exposed horses, but he will stay.”
Meyler, looking ahead to his likely partner, added: “I’m looking forward to him. He fits the bill as a novice, it’s his first year over fences and he’s been doing things well.
“He’s a big frame of a horse and he seems to be jumping fences well, hopefully he can be bang there.
“His last race turned into a sprint which didn’t suit him, but he came out of the race well.”
As ever, the Irish National resists easy conclusions. Weight, ground, stamina and timing will all have their say, and the presence of both established names and progressive types ensures a race of depth as well as intrigue. For Elliott, it may yet carry implications beyond the result itself; for others, it is a chance to seize a moment that comes but once a year.
Boylesports Irish Grand National Chase
(Extended Handicap) (Grade A)
€500,000 guaranteed, 5yo plus, 3m 5f, Class 1
84 entries
Going:
