Interview with Jonjo O'Neill, Jump trainer

13 November 2014

Interview by Oliver Brett is freely available in part or full:

Rarely has a National Hunt season begun with such a delicious range of possibilities, or quite so much uncertainty and intrigue.

Last year’s champion trainer Paul Nicholls started slowly before offering valid excuses as he described this campaign as his “most transitional yet” But his last 23 runners have yielded 10 winners. Can this purple patch amount to a sustained challenge?

Nicky Henderson is the bookmakers’ favourite to recapture the title he won in 2012-13. But for him so much would appear to depend on two horses who must recover from worryingly lengthy physiological (and perhaps psychological) lay-offs, Simonsig and Sprinter Sacre. We’ve not seen either on a racecourse yet.

Then there’s the Master of Jackdaws Castle, Jonjo O’Neill. He started quickly with his usual summer arsenal of useful handicappers but has been a little more quiet now the prize money has ramped up. And yet the raised quality of his charges this term leaves many to suggest this could be his year. Paddy Power, the bookmakers who sponsor this weekend’s big race at Cheltenham, have him as short as 7-2 to lift the trainer’s title for the first time.

O’Neill, a likeable and softly spoken 62-year-old, with a distinctive, lilting Cork accent, has gained major recognition as the principal trainer of JP McManus’s horses in the UK, which chiefly have 19-time champion jockey AP McCoy on board. As a jockey himself, O’Neill famously partnered Dawn Run to both Champion Hurdle and Gold Cup glory, though he has also trained winners of the Grand National (Don’t Push Me, 2010) and Gold Cup (Synchronised, 2012).

In the past, he has brushed aside any suggestion that he might be in line to win a champion trainer’s title. Now, he admits it’s a possibility, though he remains sceptical as to whether he quite has enough high-quality winter horses.

“We’ve got about half a dozen. That’s all we’ve got really, it’s the back-up that’s the problem. You need runners every Saturday because that’s where the money is. We had two runners last Saturday; Paul Nicholls had five winners, that’s the difference. So we’ll need to hit every target with the good horses and they’ll have to be spot-on right which is not an easy thing to do but we’re delighted to have them and we hope the younger horses will come on too, like [Ladbrokes World Hurdle winner] More Of That did last year.

“If we’re still in touch after the Gold Cup and we’re first, second and third in the National then we’ve got a chance of winning it. I’d love to win it, of course I’d love to. We’ll give it a go but I’m realistic to know we are probably lacking a little bit in ammunition.”

 

The Open Meeting staged at Cheltenham from Friday (November 14th), with all three days live on Channel 4, has plenty of races for O’Neill to target. Principally, there is the valuable Paddy Power Gold Cup, a handicap won by the trainer with Johns Spirit last season, who lines up again, albeit carrying 17lbs more than he did 12 months ago. A win on his re-appearance at Cheltenham in October seems to have been the perfect prep race, though O’Neill warns this seven-year-old is not the most robust animal in his yard.

“He’s always been plagued with sore shins, and is a bit light of bone, which is why he probably likes a bit of cut in the ground. This time, touch wood, he seems in grand form. I was surprised how well he won last time at Cheltenham as he’s gone up a lot [in the weights] since last year. Whether the race wasn’t very good or he has improved a lot since then we’ll find out on Saturday but he’s a tough call for the weekend in fairness. He’s in his prime now and if he’s going to survive in these races he’s going to have to produce the goods.”

There is an O’Neill second string in the same race, Eastlake, who may find stamina an issue in this competitive two-and-a-half mile chase. “He has only ever won over two miles, but he seems to stay well, is in good form and he’ll like the ground. He’s had his problems with his knees and joints but everything seems very good with him now.”

On Friday, Festive Affair, one of the biggest horses in the 120-box yard at around 17 hands, runs in the two-mile handicap. O’Neill freely admits that previous calculations over this one’s ideal trip have been flawed. “He doesn’t get any further than two miles, we don’t think. He didn’t finish his races when he was racing over further. He’s a big horse, a gorgeous horse. We stepped him up like idiots because we thought he wanted further but I don’t think he does. He’s a beautiful mover.”

The same day will see a second start over hurdles for Champagne Present, narrowly beaten at Aintree in October. “He ran a cracking race and just got caught. We like him and we are going to dip our toe in the water and see if he’s good enough to go first-class. How strong the race was at Aintree is hard to say, but he jumps well and travels well. Why not have a go and see where we are?”

The feature on Sunday is the Greatwood Hurdle, which may prove to be a fact-finding exercise for the mercurial four-year-old, Goodwood Mirage. “He ran terrible at Haydock on the flat, we were really disappointed, but then he did his job nicely at Wetherby. If he can double up on that this weekend and run a cracking race then we know we’re on solid ground again. It’s crazy [his handicap mark] - but hopefully they’re right. I had that argument with the handicapper with More Of That last year!”

The unbeaten long-distance hurdler More Of That has of course long graduated from handicap company. And while there is no plan for him to go chasing following veterinary advice, his campaign is likely to start with the Grade 2 at Newbury at the end of the month before tackling the Long Walk Hurdle in December at Ascot.

O’Neill has three Gold Cup possibles at the moment in the shape of Taquin Du Seuil (whose first target is the Betfair Chase at Haydock), Holywell (who’s likely to skip that and start at Aintree in December) and Shutthefrontdoor, who won well at Carlisle on Monday and will travel to Ireland for the Lexus Chase over Christmas.

One O’Neill horse who makes a modicum of appeal from a betting standpoint at each-way prices is his Hennessy contender, Merry King. A horse who races in the colours of The Grey Gatsby’s owner Frank Gillespie, he hasn’t won for two years but tends to put in solid efforts such as when third in his seasonal bow, the United House Gold Cup Handicap. O’Neill says: “He’s well handicapped if he’s good enough. It is an open race this year and he’ll go there with a chance.”

The Hennessy, which this year will be on 29 November, is the biggest prize left to have eluded McCoy, who is currently on an injury-enforced lay-off. The veteran jockey has picked the race as his comeback target, but 

O’Neill says candidly: “I hope he doesn’t come back until he’s right. You know what he’s like, he rides when he’s half dead, doesn’t he? It would be nice to see AP back as AP. He should be getting some sense by now. But when you get sense, you give up.”

McCoy, the 40-year-old 19-time champion jockey, is “magic man” when fully fit, he adds, and “makes a big difference”. But on the flip side, there is also an opportunity for his younger jockeys, Richie McLernon and Maurice Linehan to step into the vacuum. That said, O’Neill is reluctant to discuss precise bookings for Cheltenham this week. “I’m just disappointed AP’s not here this weekend, but that’s just me being selfish,” adds the trainer.

He knows the Open Meeting is important in establishing whether he can mount a genuine championship challenge: Nicholls is in rude form, while for Henderson, Sprinter Sacre’s comeback path has been eased by news that champion chaser Sire De Grugy was found to be lame on Wednesday after a routine gallop. By next Monday, we should have a clearer idea of just how powerful O’Neill’s squad is. 

ENDS