The 2023 Boylesports Irish Grand National at Fairyhouse on Easter Monday is set to be a highly competitive race for handicap chasers. Dermot McLoughlin, aiming for his third consecutive win in the event, will field last year’s winner, Lord Lariat, who is a prominent figure in the current betting market. McLoughlin’s victory in 2021 with the outsider, Lord Lariat, allowed him to retain the crown, and the raider will attempt to become the first horse since Brown Lad in 1976 to win back-to-back Irish Grand Nationals.

Thedevilscoachman, who fell in the Grade 1 Drinmore Novice Chase earlier in the season, has since won two Grade 3 events over fences, and now seeks to win the prize for Noel Meade, who last trained the winner in 2002 with The Bunny Boiler. Thedevilscoachman is prominent in the current betting and has yet to reach his full potential, making him a notable unknown quantity in the event for owner JP McManus.

Chemical Energy, a classy staying novice chaser this season, was narrowly beaten by Gaillard Du Mesnil in the National Hunt Chase at Cheltenham last month. With news that Gaillard Du Mesnil will head to Aintree for the Grand National on April 15, Chemical Energy is expected to have an easier time in the Irish equivalent, and if he can improve on his Cheltenham effort, he will be a notable contender for the Cullentra House team.

Although Willie Mullins will not be saddling last year’s third-place finisher, Gaillard Du Mesnil, Tenzing, I Am Maximus, and Dolcita could be among the runners unleashed by the Closutton handler. Tenzing finished fourth in the National Hunt Chase at Cheltenham and could be a strong contender in the Irish Grand National.