John McConnell makes flying start to new jumps season
VICTORY IS BLISS: Bella Bliss and Eoin Walsh, left, win the Club Orange Hurdle at the expense of Cocoplum. Picture: Healy Racing
Trainer John McConnell, who has enjoyed a tremendous spring with winners at the Cheltenham, Aintree, and Punchestown festivals, started the new National Hunt season with a bang, capturing Monday’s Down Royal feature, the three-mile Club Orange Hurdle with Bella Bliss.
A welcome winner for jockey Eoin Walsh, the six-year-old mare, reappearing a week after a trip to Hexham, got the better of Cocoplum (held when making a last flight mistake) by two and a half lengths.
