'It's a sickener' - McLoughlin denied Irish National hat-trick bid as Lord Lariat ruled out

Dermot McLoughlin's dreams of an audacious BoyleSports Irish Grand National hat-trick have been dashed at the 11th hour as last year's winner Lord Lariat has been ruled out of the race due to a late injury. 

Lord Lariat had been 10-1 second favourite with the sponsors prior to final declarations, but his name did not appear among the final field of 30 on Saturday morning. 

Explaining the problem, McLoughlin said: "It's a suspensory issue. It's something which we thought would be fine, but it turns out it isn't.

"He worked last Saturday and everything went great. We were delighted with him but we felt his leg on Wednesday and decided to get it checked. I thought it was going to be something of nothing but the vet came in on Friday night and said it hadn't cleared up so we can't run."

Lord Lariat does hold an entry in the Coral Scottish Grand National in a fortnight, a race for which he is a best-priced 33-1 with bet365 and Coral, but he is not heading to Ayr and won't be seen again this season. 

McLoughlin said: "It's nothing too serious at all, but we'll have to sort it and he will need time to recover so you won't see him in the Scottish National or again this season. He'll be back next season, though, and we'll look forward to that."

Lord Lariat: last year's Irish National winner will not take his chance on MondayCredit: Patrick McCann

The local trainer has hogged the headlines on Easter Monday for the last two years in a row. Freewheelin Dylan caused a monster shock at 150-1 in 2021, while Lord Lariat did the business at 40-1 last year. 

Lord Lariat had been well backed in the lead-up to this year's race, where he would have needed to defy a 9lb higher mark, but the suspensory problem means we won't have a back-to-back winner and McLoughlin has no other runner in the race so he won't be winning it for a third year in a row. 

The trainer said: "It's a sickener as he had been in great form and I was really looking forward to bringing him back to defend his title. We've trained him for the spring all year but we'll have to take it easy with him now and get him ready for next season."

In the absence of Lord Lariat, Thedevilscoachman has been trimmed into 6-1 (from 7) by the sponsors, while Panda Boy and Stumptown have been cut to 8-1 (from 10-1).

A spokesperson for BoyleSports said: “Angels Dawn and Stumptown fought out a thrilling finish at Cheltenham and both are popular bets, but Thedevilscoachman has been steadily backed since his recent win at Limerick and is in prime position to go off favourite in what looks like a fascinating renewal of the BoyleSports Irish Grand National.”

Read these next:

Confirmed runners and riders for the BoyleSports Irish Grand National  

Find out the stunning potential line-up for the Aintree Bowl - plus who might take on Constitution Hill?  

Tom Segal and Paul Kealy had 10-1 and 9-1 winners last Saturday - get their tips and much more with 50% off Members' Club Ultimate Monthly 

Do you want £200+ of free bets? Racing Post have got the best offers, all in one place. Visit racingpost.com/freebets to find out more.