Condon out to buck convention

Davy Condon always wanted to be a star jockey, but the only thing is that he thought he would ply his trade on the flat rather than over fences. As Declan Colley discovered, it never worked out that way and on Monday he rides one of the big fancies in the Ladbrokes Irish Grand National at Fairyhouse.

DERMOT Weld has never won an Irish Grand National. He is, after all, more renowned for his exploits on the flat than over jumps, but his seven-year-old grey Prince Erik is not without a chance in the race and, alongside jockey Davy Condon, will be bidding to beat convention when they line-up for the start of the race just before five-o-clock on Monday.

Sired by Indian Ridge, Prince Erik is very much a flat-bred horse who has fortuitously turned out to be a jumps star instead – a characteristic the horse shares with his jockey.