Monty's Pass (23 April 1993 – November 2022) was the winner of the 2003 Grand National at

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Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

, when ridden by

Barry Geraghty Barry Geraghty (born 16 September 1979) is a retired Irish jockey. He is the second most successful jockey of all time at the Cheltenham Festival. Geraghty rode his first winner in January 1997 and three years later he became the Irish Champio ...

, trained by Jimmy Mangan and running in the colours of the Dee Racing Syndicate, a group of owners based in

Donaghadee Donaghadee ( , ) is a small town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies on the northeast coast of the Ards Peninsula, about east of Belfast and about six miles (10 km) south east of Bangor. It is in the civil parish of Donaghadee and ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

, and led by Blackpool born

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owner Mike Futter. Monty's Pass was bred in 1993 by Montelimar in Ireland and began racing in point-to-points before turning to chasing, finishing fifth in the Mildmay of Fleet chase at Cheltenham and second in the Topham Chase over the Grand National fences in 2002 before landing over £200,000 for his owners when winning the Kerry National. The horse was lightly raced over hurdles in preparation for the 2003 Grand National in order to protect his handicap and was the subject of a huge gamble by the public on the day of the race, which saw his price tumble from 40/1 to 16/1 at the off. The horse won in what was considered by racing pundits to be one of the strongest Grand National fields of the previous two decades, landing a huge gamble of over £1 million for his owners in the process. His partner in victory, Barry Geraghty, later said of the race, "I couldn't believe how easily he did it, he jumped like a cat all the way, it was fantastic!" Trainer, Jimmy Mangan said, " That was unbelievable, he did everything right. He travelled well all the way and after he passed me with a round to go I said to myself he could win! The day was perfect and so was his performance and I have always dreamed of having a runner in the great race not to mind having the winner!" Monty's Pass finished fourth in the defence of his title in 2004 and completed the course again in 2005 before being retired to his trainer's yard at

Conna Conna () is a village in County Cork, Ireland. It is situated on the River Bride, near the town of Fermoy, on the R628 regional road. The village contains several pubs, a shop, a post office, a Roman Catholic church (built ) and a nearby Churc ...

County Cork County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns a ...

. Monty's Pass died in November 2022, at the age of 29.

References

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External links

Racing Post Profile
1993 racehorse births 2022 racehorse deaths National Hunt racehorses Grand National winners Racehorses bred in Ireland Thoroughbred family 3-d