Cool and composed Gibney pulls another rabbit out of the hat with stirring Irish National victory
![Thomas Gibney](/_next/image/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fs3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com%2Fprod-media-racingpost%2Fprod%2Fimages%2F169_1008%2Fbcbeea6bf80d-gettyimages-2123616839.jpg&w=3840&q=75)
As Tom Gibney emerged from an umpteenth embrace, with lipstick smudged on his cheek, he turned around and joked: "This feels like my wedding!"
I wasn't at Gibney's big day, and hopefully wife Heidi isn't reading, but it would have needed to be one hell of a hooley to match the excitement and emotion of Easter Monday 2024 in front of a surprisingly big crowd of 16,758.
This wasn't anything like Lion Na Bearnai, Gibney's previous winner of the Irish Grand National, a dozen years ago. He was 33-1 and winning was a nice surprise. Intense Raffles was 13-2 second favourite and had been talked about as a potential winner of the BoyleSports-sponsored highlight for months. Racing TV even sent cameras to his Capranny stable for a feature in the lead-up to the race. There was expectation, and with expectation comes intense pressure.
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- An emotional Wigan Julie hails her son's triumph as Cieren Fallon scores on his home ground
- Navan: 'That will either kill her or cure her!' - Belgian help to the fore as Ostraka sprouts wings
- Kempton: Mill Reef and Middle Park in the mix after Adrian Keatley trains first Group winner since switch to Britain
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