Thomas Gibney

Lion Na Bernai, 2012

Lion Na Bernai winning the Irish Grand National is my biggest win to date. It meant everything to me and to the team. Looking back it was unbelievable, we only had six horses at the time and we were finding it very hard to stay afloat, but he jumped so well and once he got to the front he pricked his ears and just kept on battling. It was surreal, for us to have won, but leading up to the race I knew he could do it, we were all very confident. That win raised our profile, boosted business and put us on the map, it couldn’t have come at a more welcomed time.

Paul Carberry

Bobbyjo, 1998

That day was just brilliant, to have won the Irish Grand National and to have won on a horse trained by my father was a great personal achievement. Bobbyjo was an excellent jumper and a stayer. I had been involved with the horse since he was a four-year-old and it was great to see him reach his full potential. I always fancied him. To go on then and win the Grand National at Aintree - it was a dream come true. He was the first Irish winner of the race in 24 years. That meant so much to my mother and father and to now have three children ride an Irish Grand National winner.

Jim Dreaper

Colebridge, 1974, Brown Lad, 1975 1976 and 1978

Winning the Grand National with Colebridge was a real landmark, I was very young and just starting out on my career. My father trained 10 winners of the Irish Grand National, including every renewal from 1960 to 1966. So it meant a lot to me. The stand out for me however has to be Brown Lad’s win in 1975, that gave me great satisfaction. He was a good hurdler but didn’t take to chasing initially. He was a very slow, deliberate jumper, that year he proved what he could do. Then he came back at the top weight and did it again, it was a great achievement.