Ever since MONBEG GENIUS finished a close third in the Ultima Handicap Chase at the Cheltenham Festival three years ago, it looked only a matter of time before he landed a big handicap.

The form of that race could hardly have worked out better. The winner Corach Rambler, running off a rating of just 146 that day, went on to land the Randox Grand National a month later and was eventually rated at 162. The second horse from the Ultima in March 2023, Fastorslow, then running off a rating of 150, won the Ladbrokes Punchestown Gold Cup a month later, beating none other than Galopin Des Champs off level weights. Fastorslow was eventually rated 171.

Yet Monbeg Genius, trained by Jonjo O’Neill and his son A.J., has been a disappointment since that big run at the Festival in a red-hot race, winning just one modest handicap at Uttoxeter from his next 13 races. However, his four runs this season have been increasingly promising, finishing third last time out in the Rosconn Group Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir at the Cheltenham Festival last month on ground much livelier than ideal for him.

The softer the better for this horse on Sunday

The softer the better for this horse on Sunday

Now ten years old, the BoyleSports Irish Grand National Chase at Fairyhouse on Easter........

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