Six of the best from the Emerald Isle

Apr 5 2008 by Chris Wright, Liverpool Daily Post

FOR 24 years Irish-trained horses failed to win a single John Smith’s Grand National.

Dan Moore had trained L’Escargot to beat Red Rum in 1975 to end a similar drought of 17 years.

But Tommy Carberry, who rode dual Cheltenham Gold Cup winner L’Escargot that day, opened the floodgates in 1999 and in the past nine years six seasons the winners’ trophy has gone across the Irish Sea.

This afternoon 11 Irish raiders will attempt to bring up a magnificent seven in their dominant decade.

Here are the previous six:

1999: Father-and-son trainer-jockey duo Tommy and Paul Carberry combined to land a first Irish win for 24 years when Bobbyjo adds to his Irish National success.

2000: Ted and the then 20-year-old Ruby Walsh secure another father-and-son triumph like the Carberrys as Papillon lands a gamble after being backed down from a morning 33-1 into 10-1.

2003: Another huge gamble sees the owner of Monty’s Pass, Mike Futter, win the best part of £1million in ante-post wagers when the Jimmy Mangan-trained 16-1 chance triumphs under Barry Geraghty.

2005: The Willie Mullins-trained Hedgehunter becomes the first horse to carry more than 11st to victory since Corbiere 22 years earlier. Ruby Walsh grabs his second win by 14 lengths from Royal Auclair.

2006: 11-1 chance Numbersixvalverde denies 5-1 joint favourite Hedgehunter from emulating the great Red Rum and securing back-to-back wins. Trainer Martin Brassil and jockey Niall ‘Slippers’ Madden score on their National debuts.

2007: Gordon Elliott, on his National debut and at just 29, becomes the youngest trainer of a Grand National winner when 33-1 chance Silver Birch scores a shock victory under Robbie Power.