'I’d love to win it again' - Gordon Elliott gearing up for more Irish Grand National glory with nearly a third of the 64 entries

Gordon Elliott is at it again. Having made 26 original entries for the Randox Grand National, he has now put 19 horses in the BoyleSports-backed Irish equivalent on April 1.

His potential team at Fairyhouse on Easter Monday includes last year’s second Gevrey, Galway Plate winner Ash Tree Meadow and Salvador Ziggy, who is a leading fancy for next week’s Maureen Mullins National Hunt Chase.

Elliott, who won the Irish National with General Principle in 2018, said: ‘’It’s a great race and I’d love to win it again. I’ve entered 19 but they are for plenty of different owners who would all love to win the race and hopefully one of them can.

"We have a nice mix of youth and experience among the entries. The likes of Ash Tree Meadow and Salvador Ziggy are classy horses who could turn up here and we’ve a few others like Gevrey who've gone close in the race before as well. We’ll see what happens over the next few weeks and how some of the horses come out of Cheltenham.’’

Salvador Ziggy’s Cheltenham festival rivals Corbetts Cross and Embassy Gardens, one of 14 entries for Willie Mullins, were also among the initial field for Ireland’s richest jumps race when it was revealed on Thursday.

Embassy Gardens: among the Irish Grand National entriesCredit: Patrick McCann

Weights for the €500,000 contest will be released at 11am on March 19, so the Irish handicapper can take into account all performances at Cheltenham.

“We're delighted with the quality, depth and range of entries for this year’s BoyleSports Irish Grand National," said Peter Roe, general manager of Fairyhouse Racecourse.      

"It's great to see some of the Fairyhouse favourites from this year — Where’s Frankie and Intense Raffles — representing local trainers Karl Thornton and Tom Gibney among the 64 entries. We're busy preparing for this year’s renewal on April 1."

Sharon McHugh, head of communications and sponsorship at BoyleSports, said: “This year will see us celebrate our tenth year as sponsor of the greatest race in the Irish National Hunt calendar and we look excitedly ahead once more to what will surely be a fiercely competitive race for the BoyleSports Irish Grand National on Easter Monday.

“It’s great to see such a fantastic breadth of entries, but as we say every year, despite the abundance of submissions from big trainers like Gordon and Willie, this is a race that can throw up so many surprises on the day. We look forward to seeing how it all unfolds over the coming weeks."

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