DESPITE drawing big fields, the BoyleSports Irish Grand National has become a contest for prominent racers in recent years and Haiti Couleurs – and those that chased him home – repeated that pattern last Monday.

This century, Freewheelin Dylan, Lord Lariat and Intense Raffles were all successful when going forward from the start, and here the first four home and the sixth were all in the first eight positions heading into the straight first time around.