'It was surreal' - meet the bloodstock stalwart who rode an Irish Grand National winner

It had slipped Tom Rudd’s mind that this will be the 25th anniversary of the biggest moment of his riding career, when he won the Irish Grand National aboard Glebe Lad.

For very different but related reasons, a moment from exactly 12 months earlier is retrieved from the same recess of his memory.

"The year before I rode Glebe Lad’s half-brother, a horse called Ontheroadagain," says Rudd, who is now part of the Tattersalls Ireland bloodstock department, having returned to the company following an 18-month spell in charge of Limerick racecourse. "He’d won the Ulster National and at the time Jameson was sponsoring the Irish National. They had put up a 50 grand bonus if you won both Nationals, which was huge back then.