Barry Connell’s life in racing has been a process of constant evolution.
The Dublin-born trainer was introduced to the sport by his father “as soon as I could walk or talk”. Racing became a lifelong infatuation when the former stockbroker bought his first horse in his late 20s.
Plenty of wealthy people buy their way into horse racing. Some go on to ride at charity events. Fewer compete as jockeys and ride winners with their own horses. Even fewer then turn their hand to training their own potential Cheltenham winners.
Connell has done the lot, and on the eve of this year’s festival has genuine hopes of victory just under three years after taking out a training licence. On Tuesday, Marine Nationale is second favourite for the festival-opening Supreme Novices’ Hurdle. The next day, Good Land is joint third favourite for the Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle.
If one of the two comes through, it won’t be Connell’s first experience of winning at Cheltenham. During his jockey days he rode two winners at the track’s November meeting, one in 2003, the other five years later.
He has also had other trainers lead his horses to festival wins, notably Martello tower in 2015. However, the feeling of owning a Cheltenham winner did not come close to that of riding one, says Connell.
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Connell did not start riding, let alone winning at Cheltenham, until he was nearly 40. Having gone to the festival as a punter during his college days, he draws an apt analogy to mark his journey from the stands to the winner’s enclosure.
“I would have been riding against Tony McCoy, Richard Johnson, Timmy Murphy – the top guys at the time. Just to go into the changing room, go to the jockeys, it was like a soccer fan being able to go into the dressingroom at Old Trafford and then walk out on the pitch and play,” he says.
Connell backs his own duo, as most trainers would. In the metaphorical sense, that is. Connell hasn’t placed a bet in more than a decade. “It doesn’t really interest me,” he says of gambling.
“Usually people have a bet to add to the enjoyment of a football match, a race or whatever. Given the level of involvement that I have, owning and training the horses, having a bet on them would be irrelevant.”
Connell’s involvement with Marine Nationale and Good Land started in 2020. It took years to run them, an indicator of his patient approach.
“We’re trying to build horses who will have a career,” he says. “We don’t have the resources of the big operations where you have a conveyor belt. So we need to make these horses last.
“Someone in racing once told me that you don’t find the great horses, they find you ... When you’re lucky enough to get them, what you try to do is not get in the way and do anything silly; keep them happy.”
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The journey from owner to jockey to trainer may paint a picture of a man desperate for control, but Connell’s approach also suggests patience and a willingness to delegate to the employees at his facility near the Curragh.
One of these is his son, Rory. If Barry’s father passed on the love for racing, he in turn has bestowed it upon Rory, as well as the infrastructure to throw himself headfirst into it.
Training alongside family brings Connell closer to the highs and lows than other owners. The more recent highs came when Marine Nationale and Good Land won at Fairyhouse and Leopardstown. Connell is now dreaming of recreating the winning feeling he experienced as a jockey at Cheltenham 20 years ago.
“When I retired from riding, I didn’t think I’d be able to replicate the buzz. But having a winner as a trainer even surpasses having a winner as a rider.
“I didn’t think that was going to be possible.”
