Love breaks hearts with Liberty
“I’m shocked”, exclaimed Ms Love, as she was showered with congratulations in the bedlam and mayhem of the winner’s enclosure.
This was far and away her biggest success, a remark that applies equally to winning rider, the 5lbs claimer Ben Dalton. The ten-year-old was the biggest priced winner in the long history of the Irish National.
Panther Claw was committed at the front a long way from home by Katie Walsh, but going to the second last it was Liberty Counsel who edged ahead.
Suddenly, however, a major danger emerged in the shape of Away We Go and Paul Townend, attempting to give Willie Mullins a first ever win in the race.
For most of the straight, Away We Go appeared to be travelling better than the winner, but Liberty Counsel simply kept finding for Dalton.
There wasn’t much between the pair rising to the last, but Liberty Counsel refused to wilt and battled on powerfully to hold Away We Go by half a length, with Home Farm a further two and a half lengths away in third.
Said Love, who has been some 40 years in Ireland: “The ground was too tacky for her at Cheltenham.
“But she just hacked around here and enjoyed herself. This was a team effort and Ciaran Murphy (assistant trainer) does an awful lot with the mare, he rides and schools her.
“She had no weight and, with the very good ground, I thought had a chance. But I would have been over the moon had she finished fourth! This is fantastic. We train some horses, but our main job is pre-training for Michael O’Leary.”
Dalton (21) comes from New Ross, Co Wexford. He had never experienced anything like this before, but took it all in his stride.
Said Dalton: “I was still travelling really well passing Ballyhack for the second time and knew she would stay at it.
“She jumped the last great, I knew she had to, otherwise Paul would have grabbed me. She battled the whole way and didn’t want to be passed. She tried her heart out.
“She kept coming up in my hands at every fence. It is great to win a race like this, I was leading jockey at Limerick two Christmas’ ago and that was my best before now.
“Liberty was disappointing at Cheltenham, when the ground was probably a bit dead for her. I thought fifth or sixth would be good, it is smashing to get this under my belt.”
Dalton is based with Conor O’Dwyer on the Curragh and had ridden just once previously in the race.
Liberty Counsel paid almost 103-1 on the Tote and was the first winner of the National to be trained by a woman since Jenny Pitman with Mudahim in 1997.
Away We Go, who had been running over hurdles, produced the performance of his life, but was outstayed from the back of the last, while the third, Home Farm, was doing all his best work at the end.
Sweeney Tunes ran his best ever race over fences to fill fourth, on a surface that was surely gone too fast for him.
Carlingford Lough went off favourite, but never promised to get in a blow, nor did Marasonnien, a stable companion Away We Go.
* The attendance yesterday was 15,125 up from 13,216 last year.
