
The 2024/25 National Hunt season looks set to be a very exciting one for Barry Connell and the team at Boherbaun. Last week, I caught up with this Grade 1-winning trainer to discuss his plans, and it must be said that he has a lovely string of horses to go to battle with. As you can imagine we found plenty to talk about, and the best thing to do is to watch the full video, but I have brought you some of the highlights below.
The first horse we discussed was Marine Nationale, who gave Barry a 2023 Cheltenham Festival win in the Supreme Novices Hurdle in 2023. He looks set to return to action next month and could easily rank among the top two-mile Chasers if everything goes to plan. We also see the return of Dublin Racing Festival winner Good Land, who has been off the track for some time with an injury.
Then there is the very promising William Munny, who had a very strong start to his career with three fantastic Bumper starts last season. Barry is also set to unleash a new stable star who isn’t even registered yet. This newcomer seems to be the talk of the yard, so make sure you watch my video for further insights.
Get your NH season off to a flying start with a generous offer from BetMGM. If you
bet £10, and you’ll get £60 in free bets. This makes BetMGM the perfect pick for your ante-post punts.
Barry Connell is a multiple Grade 1 winning trainer and owner and there are sure to be some very exciting times ahead for Barry Connell and his Boherbaun team. I have outlined three of his stable stars below, but in my video you can learn more about Barry, and his team of equine stars.
Marine Nationale was a Novice Hurdler of the highest order and went unbeaten through the 2022/23 season, with the highlight being his win in the Supreme Novices Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival. The following season he went Novice Chasing and bolted up on debut at Leopardstown, putting on a flawless display. Unfortunately his next race did not go well and he bombed out in the Irish Arkle over at the Dublin Racing Festival. Naturally, this threw some doubt into his Chasing ability, but he clearly has tons of talent and that was the only defeat in his career so far.
Unfortunately, Marine Nationale came out of the Dublin Racing Festival with a few minor injuries. In turn that has led to split opinion about his chances of becoming a Grade 1 Chaser this season. However, I can confirm that Barry has his superstar gelding in very good working order, and he will be targeting the Champion Chase at the 2025 Cheltenham Festival. I am confident that we will see Marine Nationale back to his best this coming season.
Good Land finally returns to action this season. He had a great 2022/23 season, winning the Grade 1 Nathaniel Lacy at the Dublin Racing Festival, before finishing fourth in the Ballymore behind Impaire Et Passe. At that point he looked full of talent and seemed an exciting Novice Chase prospect, but a fairly serious injury saw him out of action for the entire 2023/24 season. Barry has been very patient with him, allowing him plenty of time to recover, and it will be fantastic to see him back on a racetrack.
Good Land has always shaped up as a middle distance horse, but now that the Turners Novices’ Chase has been downgraded to a straight Handicap, it will take a rethink to which route he goes down. Irrespective of what happens though, it will be great to see him back on a racetrack. It will obviously be a step by step campaign for Good Land this term, and I’m very interested to see how much of his ability he has retained.
William Munny is another very exciting prospect for the Barry Connell yard, and he was very impressive on his three Bumper starts last season. He won on debut at Navan, beating a decent horse from the Willie Mullins yard. He then backed that up with a win at Naas, where he beat two subsequent winners, and showed a devastating turn of foot on heavy going. The speed he showed that day was truly impressive considering the conditions and he definitely caught the attention of the punters that day.
To finish off his season, William Munny ran in a Grade 1 Bumper at the Punchestown Festival, where he finished third to Redemption Day. That was a remarkably solid effort considering things hadn’t gone to plan at home, which Barry explains in my video. He remains a very exciting prospect for the new season, with a Novice Hurdle campaign in mind. Barry fully intends to try and replicate Marine Nationale’s win in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle in March.
🎥
GJ on Youtube
#️⃣
GJ on Twitter
🫰
Join GJ's expert Discord Channel
Users must be 18+. If you are having trouble with gambling then help and advice can be found at begambleaware.org. Please Play Responsibly.
Trading financial products carries a high risk to your capital, especially trading leverage products such as CFDs. CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. Between 74-89% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.