Donn McClean gets the lowdown from Joseph O'Brien on his team for the new jumps season.
Trainer of three Group 1 winners on the flat in 2024, the 2023/24 National Hunt season was another hugely successful one for Joseph O’Brien. Another fruitful domestic campaign saw him finish in the top five in the National Hunt trainers’ championship for the seventh season in a row.
Banbridge’s gallant performance in the Champion Chase at the Punchestown Festival added another Grade 1 victory to his trainer’s CV, while Lark In The Mornin’s victory in the Fred Winter Hurdle in March provided him with a fourth Cheltenham Festival victory.
The 2024/35 National Hunt season has already got off to a good start too, with Jordans and San Salvador both winning Grade 3 novice chases, and Nurburgring running out an impressive winner of the Galway Hurdle, a race that Joseph won in 2017 with Tigris River. There is lots to look forward to now as the National Hunt season swings into top gear.
He has been a class horse for us for a couple of seasons now. He was game in getting up to win the Champion Chase at Punchestown in April by a neck. We didn’t get to run him last season until the new year because of the soft ground, but it’s different this year. He’s likely to go to the Fortria Chase at Navan first, and then maybe the Hilly Way Chase at Cork, and we might have a look at the King George after that. He won the Silviniaco Conti Chase last January on his only run at Kempton. We know that he gets two and a half miles well, and that’s something we’d like to explore at some stage.
He’s a young horse, but he has been around for a while. The plan is to go down the cross-country route with him. He has schooled over cross-country fences, and he has gone well. He’s in the cross-country chase at Cheltenham on Friday, and the plan is to go there with him. We hope that he will get the hang of the cross-country fences as he gains experience over them.
He had a good season on the flat, we were delighted with him at Naas last time when he won a valuable two-mile handicap. It was nice to win a good pot with him on the flat. He’s likely to go down the staying handicap hurdle route, and there’s no reason why he can’t win a good pot over hurdles too.
She was putting it up to the favourite at Clonmel in a mares’ maiden hurdle a couple of weeks ago when she departed at the second last flight. It was a good battle between the two of them at the time, and they were clear of their rivals. She’s none the worse for that, and she’ll be going for another maiden hurdle now, probably at Limerick. She may have a go in a chase too sooner rather than later.
He’s a great servant, and I was happy with his run in the Clonmel Oil Chase last week. It was just his second run back after a break, and he’s just running back into a bit of form now. We feel that he still has lots of good days ahead of him. He might go to Cheltenham for the cross-country chase. He also has the Paddy Power Chase at Leopardstown at Christmas as an option.
He’s going to run at Navan at the weekend in the Lismullen Hurdle, and then go on to the Christmas Hurdle at Leopardstown next month, just like he did last year. He won those two races in 2022. He has summered really well and we’re looking forward to targeting all those good staying hurdles with him again this season.
He ran well on his first run for us to finish second behind San Salvador in a rated novice chase at Listowel in September, and he stepped forward from that last time in winning a Grade 3 novice chase at Punchestown. He has the option of going to the Arkle Trial at Cheltenham at the weened, but he also has the option of going to the Drinmore Chase at Fairyhouse or the Florida Pearl Chase at Punchestown. At the moment, we are favouring the race at Punchestown, a track at which he has won. We think that he’s a very nice novice for the year ahead. He’s a horse who could make a mark in the top novice chases this season.
He gave us and his owners a great day when he won the Boodles at Cheltenham in March. He’ll probably be campaigned in those nice handicap hurdles through the season. He is only four, and we hope that there is more to come from him.
He’s probably going to run in the For Auction Hurdle at Navan on Saturday. He won his maiden on the flat at Gowran in September, and he was good in winning his maiden hurdle at Limerick a few weeks ago. We hope that he can build on that. We hope that he can be a nice novice hurdler for the winter, although he will probably be kept away from very heavy ground.
After a few good runs in defeat on the flat, he won his maiden at Navan in September over 10 furlongs. He could be a nice juvenile hurdler for the season. He’ll get started soon and we’ll see where we are. He’s ready to get started now.
He gave us a great day when he won the Galway Hurdle during the summer, and he ran well in some of the top staying handicaps on the flat afterwards. He’s going to go novice chasing now. He has an entry in a beginners’ chase at Navan on Saturday, and he could start off there. He has a few entries though, he has a few options. He’s a fine big horse and he’s a good jumper of a hurdle, so we hope that he can go well over fences.
She’s a tough filly, a half-sister to Prairie Dancer. She’s progressive on the flat and over hurdles, she has won four of her last five races. She’s going to run in the Triumph Hurdle Trial at Cheltenham on Saturday, and we’ll go from there. She might come back for the juveniles’ hurdle at Fairyhouse on Hatton’s Grace Hurdle weekend, depending on how she gets on at Cheltenham.
He has been a star for us, he has won a lot of races and he has earned a lot of prize money. He’ll come back for a novice chase now over two and a half or three miles, and we’ll see where we’ll go after that.
He kept on well to beat Jordans in that rated novice chase at Listowel in September, and he was good next time in winning the Grade 3 Kilbegnet Novice Chase at Roscommon. He ran well at Cheltenham last time too, it was a messy race and he made a mistake at the third last fence, at a key stage of the race. He’s probably going to go back to Cheltenham now at the weekend for another novice chase. We think that he’s a horse who can hold his own through the winter in those nice novice chases.
He has been a star for his owners, he has won a whole bunch of races. I thought that he ran really well in the Clonmel Oil Chase last week, he just got found out for stamina over two miles and five furlongs off a strong pace. He’ll be campaigned now in those high-end handicaps and graded races. He’ll be campaigned to pick up plenty of prize money, and he might have a trip to Dundalk at some stage too. He has won over hurdles and over fences, it would be nice if he could win on the flat as well.
He has had a couple of nice runs over hurdles. He slipped up on the flat at Cork on his penultimate run, but he bounced out of that and ran a nice race at Galway last time in a three-year-olds’ maiden hurdle. He should be up to winning his maiden, and we can go from there.
Jumps Stable Tours...
- Willie Mullins Part 1 and Part 2
- Olly Murphy
- Kim Bailey
- Paul Nicholls
- Gordon Elliott
- Nicky Henderson
- Dan Skelton
- Lucinda Russell
- Harry Derham
- Fergal O'Brien
- Jamie Snowden
- Joe Tizzard
- Gary & Josh Moore
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