A new Aintree mission for breeder Ivor Dulohery after the heartbreak of Garrison Savannah

When Ivor Dulohery makes his way to Aintree on Saturday to see the horse he bred, Mahler Mission, compete in the Randox Grand National, it will call to mind an experience of high drama from 33 years ago.

The dairy farmer from Mallow in County Cork and his wife Mary were very nearly part of National history for their role in the backstory of Garrison Savannah, who just over three weeks earlier had fended off The Fellow by a short head in the 1991 Cheltenham Gold Cup.

Mark Pitman had been up with the pace for most of the National aboard his mother Jenny’s strapping bay and still appeared to be cruising as he kicked into a commanding lead at the penultimate fence, yet Garrison Savannah's stamina suddenly ebbed away after the unforgiving Elbow, succumbing to the second wind of Seagram in what was one of the cruellest National defeats since Crisp in 1973.

"He put up a mighty performance but Seagram, with 10st 6lb, had a lighter weight and caught him on the run-in," recalls Dulohery.

"He was carrying more than 11st and the weight caught him out on the day, I’d say. But I was very proud. The last horse to win the Gold Cup and the National in the same year was Golden Miller [in 1934], so I suppose he was the next best to it."

Dulohery had found the old-fashioned son of Random Shot as a foal. Garrison Savannah would run in the National a few more times, to no avail, but is remembered as a polished performer who would regularly concede vast weights around tracks such as Wincanton and Haydock.

"He was bred in County Meath by the McDowell family and I sold him on to Jenny Pitman at the Derby Sale," says Dulohery.

"He had a roman nose. He was a bit of a character but, you know, when you have them like that you’d be hoping they’d go on and do something, and he did.

"Jenny was at the sale that year and I think she bought 14 horses. He was probably the cheapest horse she bought and I’d say he turned out the best."

Dulohery also distinctly remembers another who headed to Pitman’s Lambourn yard and would achieve unwanted fame two years further down the line.

"The horse who was in the next-door stable at the sales that day was Esha Ness," he says. "And we all know what he did – he won the National the year it was declared void.

"It was a near neighbour of mine who had Esha Ness and of course both horses turned out to be very good."

Describing himself as "maybe what you’d call a small-scale pinhooker", Dulohery has 150 cows to milk twice a day but keeps a couple of broodmares and once traded Cock Cockburn, a good hurdler for John Queally in the mid-90s.

He bought Mahler Mission’s dam, Finnow Turkle, as a foal from her breeder Tim Duggan. The Turtle Island mare never raced but is a half-sister of Buachaill Alainn, third in the Grade 1 Sefton Novices' Hurdle at Aintree and later a useful chaser for Peter Bowen, as well as useful staying chaser Murchu.

Garrison Savannah, still clear of eventual winner Seagram at the last in the 1991 Grand National Credit: Sporting Life

While two siblings, Timmie Roe and Miss Massey, collected quite a few British point-to-points, Mahler Mission is easily Finnow Turkle’s best result. Dulohery is now breeding only from an unraced half-sister by Champs Elysees, who is expecting a foal by Santiago shortly.

"Mahler Mission was sold at the [Tattersalls Ireland] August Sale, he wasn’t selected for the Land Rover or the Derby, but he was a fine-looking horse with a good pedigree," says Dulohery. "He turned out to be a bargain [at €4,200] for the people that bought him.

"Funnily enough, he was sold in the middle of August and ran in a four-year-olds' point-to-point for Cormac Doyle the following February and finished second. And Garrison Savannah was sold at the Derby Sale and won his bumper first time the next February at 20-1. So both horses showed potential early on."

Mahler Mission, who won the Grade 2 River Don at Doncaster as a novice hurdler, has been campaigned sparingly by John McConnell, with just seven starts over fences, and was last seen finishing second in the Coral Gold Cup at Newbury in December.

Dulohery says: "I met John at the sales and he told me there was a big one in him. Hopefully the big one is on Saturday!

"He’s not run for a long time but he was impressive over three and a quarter miles at Newbury, where he jumped very well. It was an eyecatching performance, and hopefully John has him in good form."

Dulohery's other visit to Liverpool in 2017 was more anticlimactic. He races the odd homebred and is a keen member of the Thade Quill Syndicate, which has horses with his lifelong friend and Mallow resident Arthur O’Grady and his son Eoghan.

Ivor Dulohery (third from right nearest horse) and his fellow syndicate members celebrate a win from Westerner Point at Clonmel in 2015Credit: Patrick McCann

"The syndicate had a horse called Westerner Point and we took him over to the December meeting for the Becher Chase, hoping he’d some day maybe step up to the National," he recalls. 

"He didn’t travel well and ran a bit disappointingly on the day. Eight of us were involved in him and he won 12 races, though, so we had some good days out of him."

Aintree glory might have just eluded Dulohery so far but this upbeat man is one of so many very small breeders who live for moments like this. With four friends joining him on the trip, "hoping for the best as always", it is a fine achievement just to have got this far once again.

"I’m looking forward to it really," he says. "It’s tough going in farming at the moment and you need a bit of a break. Hopefully the sun shines at Aintree."

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