Racing Grand National report: Emotions might have been thundering at Aintree on Saturday but Jimmy Mangan's feet were firmly enough embedded on terra firma to know the first place he wanted to parade Monty's Pass was at Ballynoe point-to-point yesterday.
It didn't take long for the Grand National PR machine to rattle into gear and impose different demands on its newest hero but Mangan's initial reaction was typical of a man embedded even more in the heart of National Hunt racing.
It's only a short drive from the trainer's base near Fermoy to Buttevant and Doneraile, where the first steeplechase of all was run. Now north Cork has the winner of the most famous steeplechase of all. There's a symmetry to it almost as perfect as Monty's Pass was around the National's 30 fences.
No-one in the winner's camp will appreciate that more than Mangan. This is a man who rode a point-to-point winner at just 16, foaled one of the great champions in Dawn Run, sold on last year's National winner, Bindaree, as a yearling and generally committed his life to one of the hardest games of all.
There was a time when the bottle threatened that commitment but it's nine years since he gave up the drink and renewed the vows. Now his name is written into the history books.
So too is Barry Geraghty's. The 24-year-old is half Mangan's age but he too comes from a family where the horse is king. Geraghty's father trains and two of his brothers are jockeys. When he describes his family as "horse mad" Geraghty is not over-egging the description.
For both men, Liverpool at 4.00 on Saturday was the highlight of a career, maybe even a life. The cameras flashed, microphones were thrust before them and the world suddenly wanted to know their feelings. But both know that it's at the like of Ballynoe that the achievement will be appreciated most.
It was at such a point-to-point that Monty's Pass first encountered competition. It's the traditional grounding for jump champions. Even Best Mate started off between the flags. But even the double Gold Cup winner would have struggled against Monty's Pass over Aintree's unique challenge.
Ever since finishing second in the Topham Trophy over the big fences 12 months previously, Monty's Pass has been prepared for the National. He hasn't been molly-coddled, because that is not the way of point-to-point men, but everything was pinpointed to Saturday. As the "A-Team" used to say, it must be lovely when a plan works out.
"I cannot believe how easily we won," exclaimed Geraghty.
He may have been the leading rider at the Cheltenham festival and picked up a jockey's championship at 21 but Geraghty's ability on the big day will never get a better advertisement.
He hunted Monty's Pass on the inside and cut in at the appropriate moments, such as Becher's, and not for one moment did the partnership look like breaking up.
It was a very different story behind them. The favourite, Shotgun Willy, was slowly away and never threatened. Ruby Walsh suspected a burst blood vessel.
Chives definitely did burst and was pulled up after Valentine's the first time round. A couple of fences later, Youlneverwalkalone pulled up with a fractured canon-bone.
Tony McCoy and Iris Bleu had been making mistakes and a final one at the Chair persuaded McCoy to pull up, and when Ad Hoc fell at the 19th the main market forces were gone. By then Geraghty was sure of winning.
"He had loads in the tank. I got to the front too soon but I was confident," he said.
"He was like a cat and for most of the way it was so quiet I couldn't hear a beat."
By the second last, Gunner Welburn was struggling and it was Amberleigh House, trained by Red Rum's trainer Ginger McCain, that looked the only danger. But he too faded and it was the 40 to 1 Supreme Glory who slogged home for second, 12 lengths behind the winner.
A tragic note was injected by the death of Goguenard after a fall at the 19th but in jump racing the entry fee brings with it the certainty of danger. No one knows it better than Mangan.
"It's great to have a horse good enough for the Grand National but to have a winner is unreal. Every trainer dreams of this. Monty's Pass gave a great performance. He always gives 100 per cent. Barry was brilliant too. I'm just delighted to be bringing the trophy back to Cork," he said.
It was a third Irish success in the National in five years and it was Ruby Walsh, a winner on Papillon in 2000, who dominated the big race build-up.
The jockey rode the first three winners, including the Edward O'Grady-trained Sacundai in the big hurdle after regular rider Norman Williamson cried off in the morning with injury.
But the race seemed to swing on Richard Johnson, who lost his whip on the favourite, Rooster Booster, after the last.
"I'm sure it made the difference," said a disconsolate Johnson. It just showed how hard it is to make a plan work.
3.45MARTELL COGNAC GRAND NATIONAL CHASE £348,000 4m 4f
MONTY'S PASS (b g Montelimar - Friars Pass) Dee Racing Syndicate 10 10 7 B J Geraghty (16-1)
... 1
Supreme Glory (b g Supreme Leader - Pentlows) C J L Moorsom 10 10 2 L Aspell (40-1)
... 2
Amberleigh House (br g Buckskin - Chancy Gal) Halewood International Ltd 11 10 4 G Lee (33-1)
... 3
Gunner Welburn (ch g Gunner B - Vedra ) W A Ritson/D H Hall 11 10 2 B Fenton (16-1)
... 4
Also: 7-1 fav Shotgun Willy (pu), 8-1 Iris Bleu (pu), 8-1 Youlneverwalkalone (pu), 9-1 Ad Hoc (ur), 10-1 Chives (pu), 12-1 Killusty (f), 14-1 Gingembre (pu), 16-1 Maximize (f), 20-1 Blowing Wind (8), 22-1 Behrajan (10), 25-1 Bindaree (6), 25-1 Carbury Cross (7), 28-1 Goguenard (f), 33-1 Montifault (5), 33-1 Royal Predica (13), 33-1 Torduff Express (ur), 50-1 Ballinclay King (pu), 50-1 Cregg House (ref), 50-1 Katarino (ur), 50-1 Red Striker (ur), 50-1 The Bunny Boiler (ur), 50-1 Wonder Weasel (f), 50-1 You're Agoodun (f), 66-1 Djeddah (11), 66-1 Southern Star (14), 100-1 Fadalko (ur), 100-1 Red Ark (pu), 100-1 Robbo (ur), 200-1 Bramblehill Duke (f), 200-1 Burlu (f), 200-1 Good Shuil (pu), 200-1 Majed (12), 200-1 Mantles Prince (ur), 200-1 Polar Champ (ur), 200-1 Tremallt (9), 250-1 Empereur River (pu). 40 ran. Only 14 finished. 12l, 2l, 14l, 11l, 1l. (James Joseph Mangan). Tote: £18.60; £4.20, £12.80, £6.30, £5.40. CSF: £585.18 Tricast: £18,752.13.
