Jumping greats and historic feats: a look back on the Irish Grand National

1 You'll often hear about horses 'not getting home' in the Irish Grand National, with the stiff test of stamina over the 3m5f trip finding them out. However, for All Sorts, who triumphed in 1916, literally getting home was a big problem. On Easter Monday 1916 Padraig Pearse proclaimed an Irish republic outside the General Post Office in Dublin, marking the start of the Easter Rising. As news of the rebellion spread, the British military, who were well represented among the 25,000-strong crowd at Fairyhouse some 15 miles away, commandeered all available transportation, leaving those at the course stranded. All Sorts and connections had to walk the 60 miles back to Streamstown, County Westmeath, and arrived five days after setting off.

2 Undoubtedly the most dominant trainer in the race's history is Tom Dreaper, who was based locally in Greenogue, County Meath, and sent out ten winners, including an astonishing seven in a row from 1960 to 1966. His son Jim, training from the same yard, saddled four winners in the next decade. Arkle, widely regarded as the greatest jumps horse of all time, was one of Dreaper snr's winners, landing the race in 1964 after his defeat of Mill House in the Cheltenham Gold Cup.

3 Flyingbolt is the second-highest-rated chaser of all time, behind only stablemate Arkle, and his last great day came in the 1966 Irish Grand National when lumping 12st 7lb to victory, giving the runner-up Height Of Fashion 2st 12lb and the previous year's winner Splash a full 3st. That superb staying success came in the same season he won the Champion Chase at Cheltenham before finishing an honourable third in the Champion Hurdle less than 24 hours later. Just a seven-year-old when so impressive at Fairyhouse, Flyingbolt was cut down by the infection brucellosis, and while he raced again he had lost his brilliance.

4 Unsurprisingly given his association with Tom Dreaper, Pat Taaffe is the winningmost rider in the race's history, with six victories to his name. Frank Wise, who triumphed aboard Alike in 1929, has just the one, but his was a memorable success for he did so missing three fingers and riding with a wooden leg.

5 A three-time National winner of the 1970s who won two in a row before coming back against the odds to regain his crown at the age of 12. It sounds a lot like Red Rum, but Brown Lad had the same profile, with his three Irish Grand National victories marking him out as the most successful horse in the race's history. In fact, no other horse has won two Irish Nationals since the second world war. Remarkably, the Jim Dreaper-trained Brown Lad achieved those three National successes, a Stayers' Hurdle victory and two seconds in the Cheltenham Gold Cup despite making his debut just shy of his eighth birthday and missing the 1976-77 season through injury.

Desert Orchid: one of the greatest chasers of all time

6 One of the greatest weight-carrying performances of the modern era took place in the 1990 Irish Grand National when Desert Orchid, carrying top weight of 12st and conceding 28lb to all bar one of his rivals, pulverised his opponents, earning a Racing Post Rating of 184. Only Carvill's Hill, who was awarded 187 with a spectacular victory in the 1991 Welsh Grand National, has since posted a higher RPR in winning a handicap. Remarkably that Irish National wasn't even Desert Orchid's finest performance of the season, as he had achieved a figure of 189 in the Racing Post Chase at his beloved Kempton.

Liberty Counsel (left) gets the better of Away We Go to win the Irish Grand NationalCredit: Caroline Norris

7 Liberty Counsel, who won in 2013, is the longest-priced winner of the race at 50-1. Liberty Counsel was trained by Denmark native Dot Love, who had been set to represent her country of birth at the 1988 Seoul Olympics in three-day eventing but was denied the chance due to a clerical error.

8 Love is one of four female trainers to have won the Irish Grand National, which is the same as the Aintree equivalent. However, while no woman has ridden the winner of the Grand National, three have been successful at Fairyhouse, with Nina Carberry (Organisedconfusion, 2011) and Katie Walsh (Thunder And Roses, 2015) joining Ann Ferris, who struck aboard Bentom Boy in 1984, on the roll of honour.

9 Organisedconfusion was trained by Arthur Moore, who also won the race as a rider on Kings Sprite in 1971. Remarkably, his father Dan achieved the same feat, steering Revelry to success in 1947 and saddling Tied Cottage in 1979. The Carberrys look well-placed to emulate the achievement as Dan's son-in-law Tommy, who won on Brown Lad in 1975 and 1976 and trained Bobbyjo, is the father of three National-winning riders in Paul (Bobbyjo, 1998), Philip (Point Barrow, 2006) and Nina.

10 The race was run for the first time in 1870, with winner Sir Robert Peel earning connections 167 sovereigns, which is roughly £18,000 taking inflation into account. Nowadays, with a prize fund of €500,000 the BoyleSports-sponsored Irish Grand National is the richest jumps race in the country, and in Britain only the Grand National at Aintree and the Cheltenham Gold Cup are worth more.

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