It’s been 23 years since Monty’s Pass won the Grand National for Jimmy Mangan, and the Conna-based family are dreaming of further glory on the big stage with stable star Spillane’s Tower.
The eight-year-old marked himself as a top chaser when winning the Irish Champion Novices’ Chase in 2024. Though after his second Fact To File in last season John Durkan, his form drastically dipped. That was until he defeated L’Homme Presse in the Cotswold Chase in January, firmly putting himself back on track.
Speaking to the Press Association, via Racing TV, Jane Mangan said: “there’s plenty of excitement. I don’t think psychologically we’ve gone there yet in our heads that he is a runner in the Gold Cup.
“For the village it is great. There are a lot of people who are going to travel to Cheltenham who have never been. It says ‘welcome to the home of Monty’s Pass’ on the sign at both sides of the village. It’s time to add another name under that.
“There’s just a great vibe about having a runner in the best race in jumps racing. No one is expecting him to win. It’s a strong point-to-point and National Hunt country and the last Cork winner would have been Imperial Call.”
Trained by Fergus Sutherland, Imperial Call was a four length winner of the 1996 Gold Cup.
“It could be one of the stories of the week” – Jane Mangan
The Cheltenham Festival has habit of throwing up an underdog story, and Spillane’s Tower succeeding in the Gold Cup would be a huge victory for the Mangan family.
“He’s a runner in the Gold Cup for a trainer with less than 10 horses in training. It could be one of the stories of the week, it’s mega,” continued Mangan. “It’s kind of Danoli, and Tom Foley wouldn’t be too dissimilar to dad.
“I know the McManus family have got plenty of runners this week, but they get immense pleasure out of this horse as they bred him as well.His preparation has gone well and my parents are very happy with him. It’s very comforting knowing how he handled the travelling in January, we’ll just replicate that procedure here. If people are giving Grey Dawning a chance, then we must surely have a chance.”
“It will be hard to be completely neutral” continued Jane Mangan, who will be part of the Cheltenham Festival coverage. “I’ve hosted RTE when he won the Grade One at Punchestown as a novice, so I’ll manage. Where else would you want to be when your dad has a runner in the Gold Cup?”