Colm Greaves: Barry Connell - ‘Woah – He’s halfway there’

Has the pressure of the week lessened Connell’s belief or blurred his transparency? Not in the least.

Marine Nationale & Michael O’Sullivan with Barry Connell (right) and Marie Cullen after winning the Sky Bet Supreme Novice Hurdle.

One of the happier narratives of the jump season so far is the infectious enthusiasm Barry Connell carries around with him and how willing he is to generously share it with anyone who asks. Somehow, and he can’t quite seem believe it himself, he has ended up training two of the best novice hurdlers of the season from his small base in Nurney Co Kildare where he self funds an operation in which eleven employees looks after a couple of dozen horses.

Since the beginning of the season, he has been adamant that Marine Nationale would win the Supreme Novice Hurdle at The Festival and that his stablemate, Good Land would follow up in the first race on Wednesday, the Ballymore Hurdle. The first leg came up on Tuesday, and judging by the body language of various bookies, a large cohort of believers followed Connell in and large pay outs on a lucrative double await if Good Land can deliver.