BAR 1 Betting Bobbyjo Chase
Grade 2 Handicap, Fairyhouse 15:15
€37,500 guaranteed,
5yo plus,
3m 1f, Class 1   
Saturday 21st February 2026

BetPlay

1 Grangeclare West 7/2
2 Gerri Colombe 8/1
3 Stellar Story 12/1
9 ran NR: Jordans Distances: 5½l, 9l, 1½l
Time: 7m 25.80s (slow by 43.80s)

Class, when given its conditions, tends to assert. This has long been a proving ground for Aintree aspirants and this latest renewal followed the familiar script: those hardened in Grade One company rising above the rest when it mattered most.

Grand National third Grangeclare West arrived with a profile that required little embellishment. His principal rival, Gerri Colombe, similarly accustomed to competing at the highest level, ensured that this Grade Three contest possessed a depth unusual for the grade but entirely in keeping with its reputation.

For much of the way it was Stellar Story who added intrigue. Meeting the front pair on markedly worse terms than he would have done in a handicap, he nevertheless gave a bold sight, travelling with enthusiasm and briefly threatening to turn the race into something more complicated.

But experience has a way of simplifying matters. Gerri Colombe moved smoothly into contention and, turning for home, appeared to have matters under control. His fencing was assured, his stride purposeful, and approaching the final obstacle he looked set to cement his authority.

Yet Paul Townend, as so often, was measuring rather than reacting. Tracking what he perceived to be his principal danger, he angled Grangeclare West into position and, despite a jolting error at the last that might have undone a lesser partnership, his mount gathered himself with the assurance of a seasoned campaigner. The response on landing was immediate and emphatic.

Driving clear on the run-in, the 7-2 shot powered away to score by five and a half lengths, underlining both stamina and resilience. It was a performance that combined the grit of Aintree form with the polish of a horse at ease in graded company.

Coral responded by cutting the winner to 10-1 from 20s for the Grand National, the market acknowledging what the eye had already confirmed.

Townend reflected: “He can get you out of trouble! He got away with it anyway.

“The last is so far down there that I was anxious not to challenge until we got up to where it normally is and it probably helped me not winging it and landing upsides Gerri Colombe.

“He enjoyed himself, got into a nice rhythm. I thought they went very hard and I was just in my comfort zone everywhere, popping away.

“He’s a class animal. The ground was my concern but it’s loose and he handled it as well as any of them.”

On the question of Aintree and the inevitable jockey conundrum, he added: “He has to be, that headache is a bit down the line.”

For Gerri Colombe, defeat was honourable rather than humbling, his effort shaping as one that should leave him spot-on for future targets. Stellar Story, for his part, lost little in bold defeat given the terms he faced and may find calmer waters more to his liking.

But this was about Grangeclare West. In a race that habitually points the way to April’s great marathon, he advertised not merely readiness but authority. The Bobbyjo has once again revealed a contender who blends class with courage — attributes that rarely go amiss on the long run to the Aintree line.

BoyleSports

Bobbyjo Steeplechase
€37,500 guaranteed, 5yo plus, 3m 1f, Class 1
9 ran
Going: Heavy

POS. DIST HORSE AGE WGT TRAINER JOCKEY SP
1    Grangeclare West 10 11-0 W P Mullins Paul Townend 7/2
2 5½ Gerri Colombe 10 11-0 Gordon Elliott Jordan Gainford 8/1
3 9 Stellar Story 9 11-8 Gordon Elliott Danny Gilligan 12/1
4 1½ Answer To Kayf 10 11-0 Terence O'Brien John Shinnick 6/1
5 17 Captain Cody 8 11-0 W P Mullins Brian Hayes 11/2
6 13 Intense Raffles 8 11-0 Thomas Gibney J J Slevin 11/1
7 13 Three Card Brag 9 11-0 Gordon Elliott Jack Kennedy 3/1F
8 3¾ Lecky Watson 8 11-12 W P Mullins Sean O'Keeffe 22/1
PU Spanish Harlem 8 11-0 W P Mullins Danny Mullins 9/1
NR 3 Jordans 7 11-6 Joseph Patrick O'Brien NON RUNNER

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