Paul Carberry previews the Irish Grand National highlighting a 40-1 chance Famous for his fine hold-up tactics and stealing glory from his peers within the final snatches of a race, former jockey Paul Carberry is held in high esteem among racing’s fraternity - his talent frequently described as ‘genius’, ‘world class’ and ‘legendary’. The Irish Grand National evokes especially fond memories for Carberry and his family, who have enjoyed eminent success in the race, most notably in 1998 when Carberry won aboard Bobbyjo for his father Tommy. Speaking to BoyleSports about Irish Grand National Betting, he gave his thoughts on this year’s renewal, highlighting a 40-1 chance which you can back with €50 in FREE bets + 6 Places with BoyleSports: Stamina over class It may sound obvious but when studying the Irish Grand National form, Carberry backs up his point that stamina is arguably more important than class. He says: “You need a horse that stays, definitely has to be able to do that. Noel Meade had two in the race in 2002 with The Bunny Boiler and Arctic Copper and the latter was probably the better horse, but he got to the second last fence and just stopped, he didn’t stay, the other horse did and went on to win.” “The ground will be very testing at the moment so they will need a few dry days coming up. It’s pretty simple, a horse that jumps and stays well is needed to have any chance of winning the Irish Grand National.” Paul Carberry's Irish Grand National Preview “Thedevilscoachman, if he didn’t run a week or so ago, then he would be the right favourite, but two weeks to recover from that race for this one might not be long enough with another three miles and more ahead of him. “I assume he will run but I suspect he’ll need more time to recover if he is to win. “Gaillard Du Mesnil had a good win at Cheltenham, that’ll help him. Willie Mullins has a lot thrown in and he looked one of his better winners at the Festival in a good race. “Dermot McLoughlin is a good friend of mine and he’s going well, he’s just down the road from me and it is great to see him win the race the last two years. “I think his runner Lord Lariat, winner last year, had a great prep run for this race at Leopardstown. Dermot obviously thinks he’s got a big chance of winning here and I think he does too. “Panda Boy has a good chance too, for sure. Martin Brassil has been very unlucky, he had two seconds at Cheltenham, it would be good to see him come back and get his head in front here. “It is a very open race, Angel’s Dawn won at Cheltenham, there is Stumptown as well, but it is going to be a cracker, it’ll be really hard to split them. Paul Carberry's Irish Grand National Selections “I suppose it will be a question of which horses come back right after going to Cheltenham as well, getting themselves back in order. "That’s a hard one at this stage, really difficult. I’ll go with one of Willie Mullins’, but I don’t know which one! "Dunboyne I think has a good chance as an outsider in the race. I’d also give Real Steel at 40/1 a good each-way chance as well."
