Boylesports Irish Grand National
 QuinnBet
Grade A Handicap, 17:00
Fairyhouse 17:00
€500,000 guaranteed, 5yo plus,
3m 5f, Class 1   
Monday 10th April 2023

1 I Am Maximus 8/1
2 Gevrey 28/1
3 Defi Bleu 28/1
4 Dolcita 33/1
27 ran NR: Ash Tree Meadow, Fakiera, Lieutenant Command
Distances: 1l, 1½l, 1¼l Time: 8m 24.50s (slow by 1m 7.50s)

J P McManus' newly-purchased I Am Maximus was sporting the first colours of owner and could be seen struggling near the back of the huge field after some sloppy jumps early on in the marathon contest.

Continuing to jump out to his left on the right-handed track, the seven-year-old novice was still seemingly toiling with a circuit to travel as Gigginstown-owned pair Fire Attack (Joseph O'Brien) and Defi Bleu (Gordon Elliott) cut out the running, and it was Defi Bleu who went on with a big leap six fences from the finish.

He still held sway two-out in the hands of Gavin Brouder but a small group of rivals had closed right up including Dolcita, Panda Boy and Gevrey. It was the latter who went to the front approaching the last but Townend had somehow brought I Am Maximus through the crowd and produced him perfectly between horses on the run-in to go on and score by a length from the lightly-weighted Gevrey.

The runner-up's stablemate Defi Bleu stuck to his task gamely to hold on for third, just ahead of Dolcita, Panda Boy with a long gap back to Angels Dawn who was the only other finisher in the testing conditions.

J P McManus said on ITV Racing: "I'm lucky to have him. We won this race 40 years ago and I'm very excited to win it, you'd never get tired of winning the Irish National.

You must compliment Paul, fair play to him - he dig in and stayed very well. Paul's strengths and the horse's resolution, well done to him."

BetGoodwiin

Boylesports Irish Grand National Chase
(Extended Handicap) (Grade A)
€500,000 guaranteed, 5yo plus, 3m 5f, Class 1
27 ran
Going: Soft

POS. DIST HORSE AGE WGT TRAINER JOCKEY SP
1     I Am Maximus 7 11-1 W P Mullins Paul Townend 8/1
2 1 Gevrey 7 10-0 Gordon Elliott Kevin Sexton 28/1
3 1½ Defi Bleu 10 10-2 Gordon Elliott Gavin Brouder 28/1
4 1¼ Dolcita 8 10-7 W P Mullins Danny Mullins 33/1
5 4 Panda Boy 7 10-6 Martin Brassil Ricky Doyle 14/1
6 44 Angels Dawn 8 10-4 9ex S Curling Phillip Enright 9/1
FELL Royale Pagaille 9 11-12 Venetia Williams Charlie Deutsch 10/1
FELL Punitive 9 10-3 Gordon Elliott Corey McGivern 50/1
PU Real Steel 10 10-3 E McNamara Conor McNamara 33/1
PU Milan Native 10 10-0 Gordon Elliott Charlie O'Dwyer 80/1
PU Espanito Bello 9 11-3 11ex Barry Connell Michael O'Sullivan 22/1
PU Birchdale 9 10-1 E Bolger Aidan Kelly 80/1
PU Champagne Platinum 9 10-1 E Bolger Simon Torrens 20/1
PU Farceur Du Large 8 10-1 Noel Meade G B Noonan 50/1
PU Fairyhill Run 8 10-3 John Patrick Ryan Mike O'Connor 80/1
PU Donkey Years 9 10-0 E McNamara Mark McDonagh 40/1
PU Thedevilscoachman 7 10-13 2ex Noel Meade Mark Walsh 7/1
PU Now Where Or When 8 10-1 S R B Crawford Peter Carberry 20/1
PU Max Flamingo 8 10-8 Francis Casey Conor Maxwell 25/1
PU Busselton 6 11-1 Joseph O'Brien Shane Fitzgerald 50/1
PU Chemical Energy 7 10-13 Gordon Elliott Kieren Buckley 16/1
PU Must Be Obeyed 7 10-0 Thomas Gibney Darragh O'Keeffe 16/1
PU The Goffer 6 10-13 Gordon Elliott Keith Donoghue 22/1
PU Stumptown 6 10-0 Gavin Cromwell L P Dempsey 15/2
PU Amirite 7 10-4 Henry De Bromhead Rachael Blackmore 11/2F
PU Tenzing 6 10-7 W P Mullins Sean O'Keeffe 20/1
UR Fire Attack 8 10-9 Joseph O'Brien Richard Deegan 50/1
NR 8 Ash Tree Meadow 7 10-11 Gordon Elliott NON RUNNER
NR 12 Lieutenant Command 9 10-7 Noel Meade NON RUNNER
NR 30 Fakiera 8 10-0 Gordon Elliott NON RUNNER