Tubberclair breeder celebrates Grand National win

HERE was celebration aplenty in the Tubberclair area of Athlone last Saturday, when locally-bred Lion na Bearnai provided rookie tranier Tom Gibney with a fairytale victory under Andrew Thornton in the Ladbrokes Irish Grand National at Fairyhouse. The now 10-year-old brown gelding was bred in Tubberclair by former Defence Forces member Frank Daly and his wife, Lorna Groarke, a well-renowned member of the local legal profession. Frank first bought Polly Plum, the dam of Lion na Bearnai as a potential brood mare in 1994. Sire to Lion na Bearnai was the stallion, New Frontier, who stands at Kilbeggan with Tim Carey. Frank sold Lion na Bearnai at Tattersalls Ireland in 2006 for the sum of €8,800, as a four-year-old, to Tom Gibney, and has followed Lion na Bearnai's progress since. "It's great to have had some sort of contribution to Lion na Bearnai's success. When you sell at Tattersalls, you receive notification when the horse is named, so it's very easy to stay in touch with how it's doing. Lion na Bearnai had a few notable finishes, but it started to come together when it won the Conyngham Cup at Punchestown, which is the oldest steeplechase in Ireland. Further good performances came at Roscommom and Cork, but the horse really came to notice when winning, as a 50/1 shot, in a Grade Two novice chase at Navan in February," said Frank, who also provides Transport Training locally. Originally from Mount Temple, Frank has been living in Tubberclair for many years, and is also current chairman of the South Westmeath Hunt. His wife, Lorna, is secretary of the local Point to Point committee.