‘Too brave’ Conor pays ultimate price
Connell was here eight years ago when another of his horses, Buck Whaley, took the second last in contention only to tumble much the same way as Our Conor. The outcome then was the same as now.
It is only 12 months since the Dessie Hughes-trained fancy claimed the Triumph Hurdle in these same parts by 15 lengths. Connell later bought him for the sum above which, though never confirmed, was never denied either.
Jockey Danny Mullins, who replaced Bryan Cooper in the saddle after the change of ownership, was cleared after a medical and appeared later with nothing worse than a bad bruise on his head.
Understandably, he was reluctant to discuss the incident.
Mullins did tell the trainer that Our Conor had simply been “too brave” and, while philosophical about it all, Hughes admitted it would be “terrible” to walk past his empty lodgings every morning.
The fatality was the first of this year’s festival and is likely to restart the debate about animal welfare. As many as five horses died in 2012 while the worst casualty list in modern times was 2006 when Buck Whaley was among nine that lost their lives.
“Obviously, it’s very sad when you lose a young horse at the beginning of his career,” said Connell later in the day. “You saw last year what he did in the Triumph Hurdle. He was a horse with enormous potential.
“Danny said they jumped off smart enough and they steadied up going around the first bend, so they weren’t going overly quick. It’s his jumping is his forte, so it was a surprise to me to see him come down like that.”
An official statement revealed later that a back injury was the cause and, after 20-25 minutes being attended by vets, the decision was made to put the animal down. Connell was one of the first on the scene.
“He wasn’t unconscious but they gave him a sedative straight away and he wasn’t in any pain at all. (They) Just wanted to be very thorough and make sure everything possible that could have been done was done for the horse. I have the utmost faith in the vets here that the diagnosis and everything was top class.
“Fortunately, Danny is a hundred per cent and that’s the main thing. Unfortunately, this goes with the territory with racing. One minute you have a winner and another minute you can have one that’s unfortunately died. We have another four or five runners this week, so hopefully we can get a winner and cheer everyone up.”
Connell went on to talk about unfulfilled potential and reported that Our Conor had been “in the form of his life” as he walked around the parade ring prior to a race that was won in the end by Barry Geraghty on the Jessica Harrington-trained Jezki.
The Dublin businessman had long been an admirer of Our Conor before he signed the cheque to buy him. He watched him in his maiden hurdle at Navan, in wins at Fairyhouse and Leopardstown and he was an impressed bystander 12 months ago.
Even a placing yesterday would have sufficed for a horse he labelled a “baby” but he echoed the words of Hughes and Ruby Walsh earlier when placing the loss in the context of the racing game.
“Look, I’ve been in this game for 40 years and you can either be down there with the dead one or in there with the winner. That’s why everyone loves the game, it’s the highs and lows. Unfortunately, there’s casualties and it’s very sad for all concerned.
“And particularly for the stable lass who was down there with him. She’s very attached to them. Horses get the best possible care during their racing career and nobody wants to see this happen. But unfortunately it does happen from time to time and it’s sad when it happens.”
