Irish Grand National: Intense Raffles holds on for victory at Fairyhouse

Intense Raffles held off the challenge of Any Second Now to win the Irish Grand National at a rain-hit Fairyhouse on Monday.

JJ Slevin kept the Tom Gibney trained Intense Raffles (13-2) close in behind early leader Frontal Assault before moving to the front.

Intense Raffles opened a gap but a strong finish from Any Second Now (14-1) saw him win by just a length.

Minella Cocooner (20-1) came in third with Frontal Assault (25-1) fourth.

It was a second Irish Grand National victory for Slevin and Gibney while the Simon Munir and Isaac Souede-owned French import Intense Raffles won for the second time at Fairyhouse.

Intense Raffles looked good throughout, with the six-year-old grey tucking in behind Frontal Assault before hitting the front two out.

He stayed on gamely to deny the fast-finishing Any Second Now and Minella Cocooner.

"He's a fantastic horse and it's easy to train good horses like that," said Gibney.

"Last February was the first time I spoke to them (Munir and Souede) and fair play to the boys.

"It's very easy for the big owners to go to the big yards, so for them to pick out a small stable like us and give us a horse, kudos to them. That takes a bit of doing and it's great to repay them.

"When he won here the last time we were just getting to know him and it's just fallen into place. I could make out like I'm a genius but I'm not really, it's just the way it worked out - it worked out well.

"I had huge confidence in the horse. People were asking me if I was nervous and hand on my heart I wasn't because we had huge confidence in him. He's the best I've had."