Connell has Fortria return in mind for Marine Nationale

Barry Connell has outlined plans for Marine Nationale, with the dual Cheltenham Festival winner likely to return in the Fortria at Navan in mid-November.

Beaten on his first three outings last season, the French Navy eight-year-old finished his campaign strongly, claiming the Champion Chase at Cheltenham before following-up in the Punchestown equivalent.

Now back in training after a summer break, Connell has reported his stable star to be in rude health.

"He is in three weeks and is under a saddle only since last Sunday. We're only doing a bit of trotting around but he has come in better than we've ever had him," Connell enthused.

"Last year was the first proper summer grass he has had and he had a full summer and this year he went out in a great frame of mind, as he hadn't got a tap of the stick in winning his last two races.

"He put on a lot of condition in our home place but he is an easy horse to train, as he is light-framed so it won't take much to get him going."

He added: "We can't start him back in the Naas race this year due to unsuitable race-conditions, so the plan is to go to the Fortria, then the two Leopardstown, Cheltenham and Punchestown. He was behind the eight-ball at the start of last year as he only had two runs as a novice, so he'll be more street-wise on his early runs this season.

"We'll train him to progress from race to race and, aside from himself, there is no other horse as dominant in his division. We're the standard that everyone else has to match and everything has gone right. He has had a totally clear run so touch wood we get a clear run at him."

Additional reporting by Thomas Weekes