Easter Monday and it's Irish Grand National Day.
It's always been that way. Well, it hasn't. In 1988, it was decided that the famous chase would be run on a Saturday, some two weeks after Easter. The experiment didn't work and the natural order was restored in '89.
On the day of the Easter Rising in 1916, it's often recounted that the British were slow to react because most of their army officers were at the Co Meath venue. When word came through that things were kicking off in Dublin city centre, the soldiers swiftly sought all modes of transport to get them to the capital. They ordered that the railways be shut down, so leaving many racegoers and horses stranded at the track.
A horse by the name of All Sorts won the 1916 National. After his exertions on the track, the animal had to be walked back to stables in Co Westmeath, a journey of over 60 miles.
Since then inconic names such as Prince Regent, Arkle, Flyingbolt, Brown Lad, Desert Orchid and Bobbyjoy have adorned the Fairyhouse roll of honour.
After injury forced 2022 winner Lord Lariat to miss out on a repeat bid, a new name will be spoken about just after 5pm today.
One trainer who won't be saddling a runner in the big race is John 'Shark' Hanlon. Yet he was present at a recent function luanching this year's Fairyhouse Festival.
Hanlon is a tall figure; his ginger locks stand out. A man whose towering presence adds to a happy-go-lucky disposition. His training base is in Co Carlow, near the border with Kilkenny, with Hanlon indentifying himself as somebody from the Marble County.
So how did he end up with the nickname 'Shark'? A question he's been asked a thousand times. In a cheerful response, he told RTÉ Sport: "It came when I playing hurling as a young fella, not that I was much good at hurling. I was playing full-forward, way taller than everybody else, I was awkward. One of the management team, a man by the name of Pa Dillon, a great hurler for Kilkenny in his day, let a roar out of him and said 'that fella is like a shark'.
"The name stuck and I've been Shark ever since."
Hanlon would follow his father and his father before him into the cattle dealing trade. Yet he always had an interest in horses, with the famed Paddy Mullins training nearby. The 'Shark' started training himself in 2006, when some of the cattle sheds turned into stables. His first win came at the Easter Festival at Cork a year later. In 2011, he provided Rachael Blackmore with her first winner when Stowaway Pearl obliged at Thurles.
It was a decade later before the name John Joseph Hanlon was recorded alongside that of a Grade One winner - Skyace, bought for £600, won a Novice Hurdle at Fairyhouse on Easter Sunday.
Hanlon now has about 60 horses under his care; a number of them are aimed at point-to-points before they are sold on for profit. In the case of Skyace, the 'Shark' does look to see what the bargain basement has to offer.
It was from there where Hewick emerged, a local purchase, at a cost of €850.
"Hewick never completed a point-to-point, so we kept at home. We sent him over hurdles and he won in Kilbeggan and then he won in Navan. We might have something here. And then we went chasing with him. We sent him to England, to Sedgefield, small enough race, we won that."
Things were happening alright.
Next up came victory in the season-ending bet365 Gold Cup at Sandown [many of us still call it the 'Whitbread']. Hewick's credentials as a summer horse were then further enhanced when landing the Galway Plate. Prize money won now stood at €300,000.
And then instead of going for the main chasing prizes in Ireland and Britain in the autumn, Hanlon focused his attention Stateside.
The American Grand National - or the Breeders' Cup Grand National Steeplechase - was next on the agenda.
In a land where National Hunt racing would not garner a whole pile of attention, it was, perhaps, a strange move from Hanlon. Still, the public were hooked as the genial giant went seeking glory in New Jersey. RTÉ News sent a camera crew down to capture the mood in Hanlon's yard.
"Eamon Horan and his team came down and we gave them a look around the place," 'Shark' revealed, adding that "it as a great sense of relief that Hewick was still in good order" after his fall in the Kerry National.
On Saturday 15 October, Hewick took his chance at Far Hills and the odds-on favourite duly obliged. Another €160,000 was added to the prize money pot.
"It is something you dream of. It normally doesn't happen to me, but it happened today. It’s an unreal horse". The words of a delighted trainer afterwards.
In scenes reminiscent of Red Rum basking in his Grand National triumphs, social media footage would emerge of Hewick entering a local pub and taking a sip from a pint of Guinness. The horse and trainer were enjoying the fruits of their American raid.
Will Hanlon bid to follow up come next autumn?
"Yes, I will," was his confident reply.
"He'll be aimed at the race again. We want to win it again. It was such an enjoyable experience for us all; the trip (2m 5f) is a bit shorter than he's used to, but I've been really lucky with this horse do far."
Just under a month ago, Hewick ran in the blue riband - the Cheltenham Gold Cup. He was travelling really well, until he departed two fences from home.
"Hewick is a hundred percent after Cheltenham, not a bother on him," 'Shark' reported, with the Punchestown Gold Cup on 26 April next up for his progressive seven-year-old. No Aintree National bid, then, though Hanlon has Cape Gentleman involved in next Saturday's Liverpool highlight.
"I'd like to go to Aintree one day with Hewick, but I'd like to have a crack at the Irish National, too. Fairyhouse has such a great tradition and a heritage."
Owners with deeper pockets are now seeking out the 'Shark' to train their prized posessions. More big days are possible. And you never know what other bargain buys the trainer might pick up in the future.
Watch racing from Fairyhouse, featuring the Boylesports Irish Grand National, on RTÉ2 and the RTÉ Player from 2.30pm.
