Irish Grand National - Four dark horses to follow Easter weekend is coming up and that means Fairyhouse’s Festival takes centre stage, with Monday’s Irish Grand National the main event. The main event is Monday’s Irish Grand National, for which there is a €500,000 prize fund. There will be no shortage of challengers for the €500,000 prize fund and it’s going to be a tricky puzzle to solve. Here are four dark horses who could spring a surprise by outrunning their odds. Brave Fortune @ 33/1 Joining Joseph O’Brien in the autumn, Brave Fortune has had a couple of starts for his current yard and he was a comfortable winner of a beginners’ chase at Roscommon in June. That came over 3m1f and his last two starts have come other significantly shorter trips. He looked in need of the run when a well beaten fourth of five runners on his return from a break at Fairyhouse in December, but a much improved display followed when finishing second by a narrow margin in handicap company at Thurles last time. Novices tend to do well in this race and there is scope for improvement off his current mark of 138, and O’Brien knows how to prepare a horse for one major target. Better Days Ahead @ 20/1 Gordon Elliott’s Better Days Ahead was a Cheltenham Festival winner in his novice hurdling days and made a solid start to his career over fences last term. He won a beginners’ chase before being narrowly denied in a Grade 1 at Leopardstown in December 2024. Returning to winning ways in the Grade 2 Ten Up Novice Chase next time, he then finished third in the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase. The son of Milan was well beaten in this race last year but his Cheltenham exertions were probably the cause of that. He was last seen finishing second in a Grade 2 over an inadequate trip in February and is well worth giving another chance or two in handicap company. C’Est Ta Chance @ 20/1 Willie Mullins has won this race twice in the last decade and I Am Maximus was the most recent of those in 2023. He has several interesting candidates among the entries this year and C’Est Ta Chance is definitely going the right way. The trip is a bit of an unknown but stamina did not appear to be an issue when fourth over an extended three miles over hurdles at Ayr last term. His Grade 3 victory at Thurles last time out was probably a career best effort and it would be unwise to rule out more improvement. Stellar Story @ 40/1 Strong stayer Stellar Story beat The Jukebox Man when winning the Albert Bartlett as a novice hurdler back in 2024 and he was a Grade 2 winner over fences at Punchestown on seasonal debut last term. Things haven’t quite gone to plan this season but he has been highly tried, running in both the Betfair Chase and the Savills Chase. Third in the Bobbyjo Chase last time out, perhaps handicaps can inspire a return to form and stamina shouldn’t be a problem.
