The Winner

Bobbyjo

After clearing the last fence and going 10 lengths clear of the second horse. Bobbyjo was Hailed as the winner of the 1999 Grand National. Bobbyjo Crossing the line It has been long overdue since the last Irish winner and recently the Irish runners have been doing very well in this country so it should come as no surprise that they have at last again won the race but what about this horse ? Well it must be said that it was very hard to fancy the chances of a horse who's previous win came in a 2 mile hurdle race however perhaps not so strange when you consider that this trainer did the same thing with this horse when they won the Irish equivalent of this race at Fairyhouse last year. Bobbyjo is a Bay gelding who was, it has to be said only an average hurdler before he turned chasing but who cares about that now that he has taken on and beaten the best long distance chasers here and in Ireland and has given them a beating. He was up with the leaders all the way in the race and Jumped very well throughout the race and absolutely relished the ground which was drying out all the time. He did in fact quicken away from the last and stayed on and given similar ground who knows at 10 next year should have a good chance even if he goes up in the handicap somewhat he should still have a racing weight. It was perhaps very brave of The owner Mr Robert Burke to risk what was a good chance of winning a double in that race and bypassing it in favour of the Liverpool marathon but his advice must have been good from the trainer Tommy Carberry who is no stranger to this course as he was connected to the last Irish winner of the race when he rode L'Escargot to Victory in 1975. This race will be memorable in many ways to the experts on the statistics of this great race, Indeed Bobbyjo is one of only 3 horses to have won this race in the last 30 years from out of the handicap and he was a long way out of the handicap given that his handicap weight was 9 st 4 lbs and carrying 10 Lbs over weight over 4 ½ mile takes some doing. There were plenty of whispers on the course about the merits of this horse and even when they bet him down to a S/P of 10/1 from 25/1 on the previous day it should have set the alarm bells ringing but the Irish always well support their horses so one can be forgiven for overlooking this.

Tommy Carberry

Tommy Carberry is an Irish trainer who is no stranger to Aintree an he was a very popular man when he won the 1975 Grand National on L'Escargot. So it must have given him great pleasure this year to train the impressive winner this year and the icing on the cake was that it was his son Paul that rode the winner. When interviewed after the race he said it was in fact was better to train a winner than to ride one. It must have been a dream come true for him but no doubt it was not a total surprise as he did train the horse to win the Irish equivalent last year.

Paul Carberry

Paul Carberry must have thought all his dreams had come true when at 4 o'clock on the 4th of April achieved the same feat as his father did 22 years previous when he won the worlds greatest steeplechase. " Absolutely fantastic " was the way he described his feeling after the marathon, "It's a dream come true". He gave the horse a peach of a ride and was up with the field thought the race and never looked like stopping although he did think that he might stop after the elbow but the horse kept on galloping all the way to line

Second Place

Blue Charm

Blue Charm Blue Charm is a bay gelding who was a good hurdler and has now turned out to be a good chaser. He seems to win most of his races in the north of the country, He has won 4 times at Musselburgh. The horse seems to handle all types of going and has won on soft and also good to firm. Last years form would have been a good guide to his great run this year as he won the Perrier Jouet Handicap chase on the Friday last year when he beat Glitter Isle and Queen of spades by 5 lths and a distance respectively. The ground that day could not have been more different than today’s but he ran a very good race and other than when he pecked at Becher’s on the second circuit he put in a clear round. Blue Charm is only 9 Years old and will be the prime Grand National age next year and must command a closer look next year in the race and indeed in any chase.

Mrs S.C.Bradbourne

Mrs S.C.Bradbourne Trains in Cupar which is in Fife which is near Edinburgh. I’m sorry but I don’t know any more than that about this trainer if anybody knows about this trainer please e-mail me.

Lorcan Wyer

Lorcan Wyer is one of the northern jockeys who has in the past suffered some bad injuries but last year he rode 41 winners. This year his biggest success came in the Royal and Sun Alliance Hurdle at the Cheltenham festival when he gave Barton a really great ride to win easily and this was his first festival win since he won a race as an amateur on a horse called Omerta. He is a very well liked jockey and this could be seen at Cheltenham when he was coming into the winners enclosure all the northern jockeys came out of the weighing room to cheer him in.

Third Place

Call It a Day

Call it a Day is a Bay Gelding who was a good hurdler who turned into a good chaser. and although he has won a race on G/F ground he is at his best with cut in the ground. He showed his class last year after some good runs without getting in front when he won the Whitbread at Sandown in April. He also ran third in an Irish National. He ran really well throughout the race only making one mistake and just got tired at the closing stages. A Fine effort from a good horse.

David Nicholson

David Nicholson is one of this countries best trainers. he has a lot of horses under his control and most of them run in high class races and it is rare for any of the top hurdle or chases not to have one of his horses taking part..

Richard Dunwoody

Richard Dunwoody is the most highly rated jump jockey in the country. A two times past winner of the Grand National, and there is very little that he has not achieved in the National Hunt arena. Richard said after the race " I though I was going to win at the last but he got tired and then stayed on from the elbow ".

Fourth Place

Addington Boy

Addington Boy is a brown gelding who was a good hurdler and has turned into a very good class chaser. He has won lots of chases including Grade 2 and Grade 3 chases. He seems to handle any ground and is a former Tripleprint Gold Cup winner ( 1996 ). Although he make quite a few mistakes here he still managed to be in with a good chance until he made a mistake at the last.

F. Murphy

F. Murphy is a good Irish trainer who has taken some good prizes in this country and took over training of this horse from G.Richards.

Adrien Maguire

Adrian Maguire is another of our top Jockeys, Nobody rides a finish better than Adrian as could be seen when he won the Cheltenham Gold Cup On Cool Ground Which is still the closest Finnish when he beat The fellow and Docklands Express a short head and a length respectively. Still a young man he will definitely win more big races and has a even bigger future in front of him.