British upstage Irish National festivity

FREAKISH summer weather, thrilling finishes and a controversial winner of the Irish Grand National - there was little the first day of the Fairyhouse Easter festival lacked.

True, the National was won by a British trained horse for only the sixth time since the race started in 1870, but Mrs Jenny Pitman's victory with Mudahim was greeted with enthusiastic acclaim by a crowd which certainly knows its favourites.

The result, announced after a photo finish, surprised Mrs Pitman and Mudahim's jockey, Jason Titley, who were convinced they had lost out to the Irish challenger, Amble Speedy.

Their view was shared by most of the 25,000 onlookers, but the crowd rallied to the popular Mrs Pitman once its surprise at the verdict wore off.

"I thought we were licked," she admitted, "but he rallied back. He's a horse with a lot of bottle."

Even more so now, given that the £62,700 prize is sponsored by Jameson.

Mrs Pitman has now won all the grand national races in Britain and Ireland.

However, trouble at the race was only narrowly averted when a group of men got past the stewards and ran into the path of the race. The men passed under the first fence and were not injured.

Mudahim is owned by a syndicate of 300 people, each of whom contribute £50 a month to the upkeep of their horses.

Their representative, an Italian gentleman with a Welsh accent was on hand to collect the prize from the Taoiseach, Mr Bruton, and even to shed a few tears, presumably collective ones.

Mr Bruton was smiling too, having backed the winner.

"I got a tip from the Continent of Europe that he was a good bet," he intimated. Sources very close to the Taoiseach indicated that the information came from the European Commission, of all places.

Mr Bruton wasn't saying how much he had staked or whether Paddy Power was taking bets in ecus yet.

Happiest winner of the day had to be trainer Mr Oliver Brady, whose 3311 shot, Gazalani, edged out the favourite Finnegan's Hollow in the Jameson Gold Cup Novice Hurdle.

Mr Brady, from Co Monaghan and who describes himself as "the only horse trainer in Co Monaghan", peppered his victory interview with uncontrollable whoops of "Up Monaghan" and "there's gold now all the way to Ballybay".

"Finnegan's Hollow is having a wake, but we're having a party," he exclaimed.

Gazalani's owner, Ms Rita Shah, belongs to a Kenyan Asian family, not the most common ethnic group in the Border counties. "I met Rita's father 30 years ago when I was working in London, Mr Brady explained.

"I persuaded him to set up a factory in Carrickmacross, and later we got into the horses in a small way."

The fine weather lured more than 25,000 punters to Fairyhouse, well up on last year. It also brought out its share of Easter bonnets and exotic dresses.

While there were driving finishes on the track it was gridlock everywhere else.

Lines of traffic stretched back to Castleknock at one stage. There were long queues for the tote and the toilets.

As usual the bars were mobbed. In the balmy Bank Holiday sunshine, only the hot whiskey sellers had something to grumble about.