After race at Punchestown Sun, 15th Feb, 2026 (1st)  Phew! Obviously everything went wrong the last day. The delay didn’t help but the way he behaved delay or no delay he would have blown his chance. The frustrating thing is that he’s a very placid horse at home and is not keen or anything. All his schooling has been in behind but if you get into a row with him, you’ll lose. It’s great to get him back and Danny gave him a lovely ride from the front, he didn’t set him alight too much. I wouldn’t say he’s had an easy race, but he would have enjoyed it and that’s the main thing. We just wanted to get him back on track. Where we go, I don’t know. There will be big decisions to be talked about, but they are nice decisions. He’s in both the Supreme and the Turners. He’s probably a two-and-a-half miler but with his exuberance we decided to come back to two and he obviously settled a lot better. This was a Listed race today so it’s obviously good to get it, in itself. I thought he actually ran remarkably well the last day to last pretty much into the home straight given that he was like a wild animal. It was like he didn’t see his hurdles; he was kicking them out of the way. He was running around and he was keen for whatever reason. Cheltenham is an atmospheric place and for whatever reason he just didn’t handle it. We had the hood on today and it obviously helped. It’s a worry because we’re going to be going to either Cheltenham, Aintree, P John C McConnell

Thu, 25th Sep, 2025  It is a big relief as I felt sicker (with nerves) today than before Cheltenham. He had been jumping very well at home and while we hadn’t overdone it schooling-wise or work-wise, there is improvement left. He is in a good while but we had taken our time, so he wasn’t fully wound up. He had done enough to come here, but because of the way the ground had been we haven’t been able to school him on grass. He also hasn’t schooled at today’s speed, so there are reasons to be happy and we can go forward now. John C McConnell

After race at Listowel Thu, 25th Sep, 2025 (1st)  It is a big relief as I felt sicker (with nerves) today than before Cheltenham. He had been jumping very well at home and while we hadn’t overdone it schooling-wise or work-wise, there is improvement left. He is in a good while but we had taken our time, so he wasn’t fully wound up. He had done enough to come here, but because of the way the ground had been we haven’t been able to school him on grass. He also hasn’t schooled at today’s speed, so there are reasons to be happy and we can go forward now. John C McConnell

After race at Listowel Thu, 25th Sep, 2025 (1st)  It is a big relief as I felt sicker (with nerves) today than before Cheltenham. He had been jumping very well at home and while we hadn't overdone it schooling-wise or work-wise, there is improvement left. He is in a good while but we had taken our time so he wasn't fully wound up. He had done enough to come here but, because of the way the ground had been, we haven't been able to school him on grass. He also hasn't schooled at today's speed, so there are reasons to be happy and we can go forward now. We always knew he was a really nice horse so we weren't that shocked to see him run so well at Cheltenham. Before sending him home for the summer, we did two weeks schooling with him and he was very quick to jump. The owners (Darragh McDonagh, uncle of winning jockey) aren't too far from here so this was always the plan and there's a good crowd of them here. We'll go back to Cheltenham in November now which is a great meeting to go to and while he could be a 2m4f type horse, I don't mind if he is a two-miler either. John C McConnell

After race at Punchestown Sat, 23rd Nov, 2024 (1st)  How did I get him beaten in two bumpers?. He’s still a little bit immature mentally and ran off the bend past the stand first time. He’s not doing everything right, but has enormous ability. Finn (Buckley) said he felt like he was never out of second gear the whole way. It’s my first horse for Darragh (McDonagh) and he’s been very patient with him. He’s only four and we’ll definitely stick with bumpers, but whether we give him a break and bring him back for a good spring bumper I don’t know. Whatever he’s doing here, jumping is his game. John C McConnell