Family affair at Fairyhouse starts Ireland's resurgence as a National force

On Easter Monday 1998 the finish of the Jameson Irish Grand National was fought out by two up-and-coming staying chasers, Bobbyjo and Papillon. The pair were ridden by Paul Carberry and Ruby Walsh, the respective sons of the two trainers involved, Tommy Carberry and Ted Walsh, a pair of multiple former Irish champion jockeys in the professional and amateur categories.

For these four men an epic Fairyhouse contest marked the first airing of a symmetric theme gloriously played out at Aintree in the following years.

There was early incident in the 22-runner event, with two horses falling and two others brought down at the first. Druid's Brook, one of four British challengers, fell at the fourth, hampering Papillon, who was running prominently under top weight of 12st.