ROBBIE Power pumped his right fist three times at the crowd. Gordon Elliott threw his hands in the air and picked up a friend, part bear hug, part victory dance. And a valiant Irish-bred stood, blowing moats down his sides after a potent display of speed and stamina to win a Grade 1 stakes race over yielding ground.

Cheltenham? Well, America’s Cheltenham.

Jury Duty, owned by Sideways Syndicate, all from around Moynalvey, Co Meath, trained by Elliott and ridden by Power pummelled eight rivals in the $450,000 Grand National at the Far Hills Steeplechase in New Jersey last Saturday.

The Irish-bred, Irish-raced seven-year-old found a perfect spot in the middle of the pack, rolled to the lead coming up the hill and had plenty left to turn back fellow Irish-bred, Irish-based shipper, the Emmet Mullins-trained, David Mullins-ridden Tornado Watch, and the only American-bred runner in the field, All The Way Jose.

“I’ve won an English and an Irish Grand National – it’s great to have an American one,” Power said. “I’ve never ridden here, I watched some YouTube videos of when Ruby won on Rawnaq and Ross Geraghty winning it.

“I walked the course with Ross before the race, he knows this place like the back of his hand, when you get that sort of information about a track it’s a big help.”

Jury Duty helped the most, brushing off an arduous travel schedule and a hard race at Gowran Park just two weeks earlier. That day, Jury Duty finished 10 lengths behind Power on Woodland Opera going two and a half miles. Two days later, Elliott had a plan.

“To be honest, I rang the owners last Monday week and I says, ‘Look, the race could come up with a small field, will you have a go at it?’ The boys said, ‘Kick on.’ It was great. Brilliant,” Elliott said. “I had thought about the race, but not with this horse. I ran him in a race at Gowran Park two weeks and I was worried that it might took the edge off him. Robert gave him a great ride and it’s great to win it.”

Elliott plundered Far Hills last year, winning a novice stakes with Zanjabeel and had hit the board in the Grand National with Eshtiaal in 2015.

“Every year you come here, you learn something different. I trained a winner here last year, seconds and thirds, it’s brilliant now,” he said.

“The boys are plucky, they’ll go with whatever I say, they said, we’ll have a rattle at it. I said it’s probably going to cost 15 or 20 grand to get him back, but we’ll have a go at it. He’s a good horse, a Grade 2 or Grade 3 in Ireland, that’s all you need here.”

Jury Duty will stay in the US for the Noel Laing, a handicap hurdle worth $40,000 at the Montpelier Races on November 3rd for Rosbrian Farms before returning home.