Our Conor........whats happening.......

barry connell donating all our connors prizemoney this year to the injured jockeys fund

Not ready for Tipperary and didn't want to race him on good ground in the Cesarewitch?
He has never ran on anywhere near decent good ground(all nearly soft or worse) over hurdles and his only run on the flat on good ground was his debut where he finished midfield in a flat maiden

Was due to run in the Cesarewitch but said they were waiting for another staying one(might have been November Handicap)?Is he out of that now?

ive a feeling our conor's prizemoney wont be much.......

Great gesture none the less

A great gesture I agree. We all know how bad a record the triumph hurdle winners have in the champion hurdle but their overall record afterwards is pretty pathetic. If I owned next years champion hurdler I would not be running him in flat races at this time of year.

Champion Hurdle winner runs at Kempton this sunday

The new one??Not so sure about the Sun Alliance hurdle form(or whatever it's called these days),I think the supreme was a stronger race

What a class act barry connell is for donating our conor's prize money for the year.I hope he enjoys great success throughout the year, he deserves it after such a generous act of kindness like that.

Is that the horse that just beat Thousand Stars at Aintree.

I would usually have been loathe to be backing a triumph hurdle winner for the Champion, but it is a better race now since the inception of the Fred Winter, and winners have been of a higher class than in the past. Katchit may have won the worst Champion in memory, but he still won it. Zarkander belongs in the top class, if not quite the prize pupil. A similarly tough type to Katchit, in Countrywide Flame didn't have a bad season last yr. Our Conor looks a better class of animal to any of these. His hurdling at Cheltenham was simply electric. Granted he will need the ground to be on the soft side, but they don't allow it to be any quicker than good-soft on the opening day, so it is of no real concern for his principal target. O Connell has a shocking record with his big money buys, but that has no bearing on Our Conors future. I would prefer if they stuck with last seasons pilot. Nothing wrong with Danny Mullins, but if it aint broke.......
All in all, granted his well being, he surely has a great chance of being Champion Hurdler, and it is indeed a superb gesture from O Connell, signifying all that is good about the winter game and those involved, who loves his racing, and ploughs plenty into it.

paulie your some tool.our conor is absolute class.he spreadeagled any thing he ran into last year and is right up there with the best hurdlers.you say he hasnt an earthly in the champion hurdle (joint fav).. what will beat him?.maybe your just put up bullsh1t looking for a reaction.

kavvie......its you who are the complete tool........im not looking for any reaction at all......think that anybody that knows anything about racing will agree with me......and I know I am right when you are in disagreement.......all im short is your buddy wonky to join your camp......then its absolutely certain.......

Yes The New One dj876, think he was over the top at Aintree and still ran really well. I'm a massive fan I think he has it all

My Tent or Yours for me, last year's supreme will shape jump racing for the next couple of years possibly. I think Ruby rode a blinder on the winner and it was possibly the best piece of pace judgment I've seen at Cheltenham. The tint when on to hammer Forgotten Voice at Aintree who subsequently showed himself to be better than ever on the flat last summer.

Danny Mullins is a massive drawback as top 2 mile hurdle races can be extremely tactical. The improvement Geraghty brought out in Jezki just brings it all home. In fact improvement is the wrong word, it is more allowing a horse to show his best.

Danny Mullins looks like he will fall at every hurdle/fence.  He looks so un balanced and untidy.  Horses dont seem to jump for him either.  The association with Connell will end in tears.

Think myself that the Supreme and Neptune were both much better races last season and there was plenty of cut in the ground by race time on friday too in the triumph to suit OC and hinder plenty others which i av no doubt exaggerated the winning distance. No doubting how impressive he was of course but cannot have him as CH fav at all. May develop into a worthy contender throughout this season but 9/2 now is much much too short, id have him in 4th in the betting as things stand. Has to prove he can do it outside of Juvenile company (pretty poor juvenile company at that imo), has to prove he doesnt need it soft and has the added negative of the 2 stone penalty that is Danny Mullins on his back this season!

I see we are likely to see Rock on Ruby and The New One clash this weekend which should give a line to the novice form from last year.

The one thing I'd have thought Our Conor would do was jump which is why I didn't mention it, but if he is as bad as you say BWS then that is another drawback of course. People might think he has arrived after that ride on mount Benbulban and his lack of ability isn't being factored into his price at the minute.

I'm not a great judge of these things but noticed the difference Geraghty has made to Cailin Annamh and Jezki clearly in terms of their fluency at obstacles. Playtime Ben who you rightly referenced earlier (I backed him 3 times myself during the summer) is another who has had some right pearlers given to him of late. That horse has a big big engine for a summer horse, he routed them in a beginners eventually and some of the ground he made up after some pretty brutal mistakes in his races before that tells me he is a fair bit better than his mark if he puts it all together and gets his ground.

The only horse u need to watch to see Danny Mullins' skill at presenting one at a hurdle is Anonis - was a horse i was following closely and he destroyed that horses confidence

Surprised not to hear the Novice I can`t wait to see again and 25/1 for the Champion UN DE SCEAUX  reminds me of Make A Stand. Very quick speed figures at Punchestown twice.

while danny mullins isnt the best rider id put on our conors back i think the horse is so easy a traveller and good jumper i wont make a lot of difference.although id rather bg pc or rw on board..

He wont be such a good jumper when Danny is finished with him

lets hope your wrong.

He could be jocked off by March anyway

a not unpleasant thought mushroom,though i doubt barry connell would do it.i remember tony getting jocked off for jonjo off dawn run.mrs hill was no barry connell!!.big furore at the time but the proof of the pudding was a ch hurdle and gold cup.

That'd be the hope Kavvie (re jumping, travelling), Connell made a blunder both ways, jocking off Cooper......and then retaining Mullins (who retains a jock that isn't in huge demand, I know he won the Topaz mile for him as a kid but still)

I'll have a look at that horse BJG.

I don't know a whole pile about Un des Sceaux but I saw Kevin Blake give him a good mention as a horse to follow on ATR. He is Gigginstown, but would I be right in saying he is more of a hurdler? he must be if he is like Make A Stand. Too many graded races for novices at Punchestown for me and it tends to pass me by on that score. A right useless one of Willie Mullins won a Grade one in a bog 2 years ago, Marsonnien I think.....one of the worst Grade 1s I've seen and nearly definitely the worst winner. We've 2 many novice graded races and too many before Cheltenham especially.

Un de Sceaux is owned by a man called Edward O,Connell.

Got that wrong, think the silks are similar... caught me out.

Just remembered that Walsh rode in its races,wssnt trying to be clever i can assure you.

martin harley to ride at naas on sunday

Ah no I get that BP, although Gigginstown seem to be looking more at Champion Hurdle horses than they were. A lot quicker turnover in that pursuit, almost as much prestige(just as much in my book), cheaper.

Well I for one am itching to see Our Conor on a racetrack again, I havent been impressed with a hurdling performance at the Cheltenham festival since Istabraq was in his prime.

Hurricane Fly good horse that he is but he has hardly been beating vintage hurdle fields, how many more times does he want to beat his stablemate Thousand Stars?.

Unfortunately Darlan was killed but with the likes of Our Conor among others coming through the ranks we might have a much more competitive hurdling division this season?.

just say the race was on tomorrow......ruby on hurricane......McCoy on my tent......geraghty maybe on jezki......and inside in the middle of them little danny on our conor.......now please.......bar it has a stone or maybe even more in hand......it cannot possibly win.......and people say its a good jumper......which it is......but ya will see a different technique now.......

Different technique alright its called guessing.  Will all end in tears.

Barry Cash won on Brave Inca beat War Of Attrition.

Our Connors main problem is he is ground dependant.

What was the point of taking Cooper off him , no need, let Danny ride the rest and let Cooper keep the ride ...Barry is good for racing , I would hate to see this go against him....

Paulie really has it in for Danny, it remains to be seen.

Wildman how do we know hes totally ground dependent?, the best ground he ran on was at Cheltenham which was by far his most impressive performance. Most of the winters month the ground will usually be soft or heavy anyway.

When Hurricane met genuine good ground at Cheltenham a few year back he couldn't keep up, in fact he was off the bridle this year although there was more give than good, he eventually wore down the leaders who probably went off too fast?.

The softer the ground the better for the Fly.

our conors main problem is not the ground......that's a load of codswallop......and what has barry cash got to do with anything.......what about all the middling jocks that lost big races......do ya not remember those......

Of course I do but Barry Cash is a good example of a middling jockey getting on with a horse and winning.

Have you had a look at Our Connors action,its a twofold thing Our Connor loves cut and cut in the ground inconveniences the speedier types.

I would say the ground at Cheltenham was worse than it was at Leopardstown.

The official going may not agree but the ground was not as bad as described at Leopardstown and the ground was certainly soft at Cheltenham.

Just noticed the Meath final will be televised live on TG4.

oops wrong thread

richters • October 17, 2013 4:04 PM BST
"martin harley to ride at naas on sunday"-Said so decisively with confidence.

I thought Danny had a retainer

Regardless of what happens this season, the Fly is the best hurdler since Istabraq for sure. He is a Flat bred and didn't make Cheltenham in what should have been his peak years. I can't think of a hurdler that would beat the Hurricane Fly that hammered Go Native 11 lengths at Leopardstown as a novice. He should have 4 champion hurdles... but I don't think he'll be good enough this time, he lacks tactical speed around Cheltenham now, even on soft ground.

Connections seemed happy with that run.

I thought he gave him a shocking ride.  Got hampered a number of times.  Taste of things to come i think

They would have to be fairly happy with that run from Conor, didn't get the clearest of runs and once the birds had flown Mullins just pushed out hands and heels.

With The New One skating in yesterday Hurricane Flys reputation as the best since Istabraq might just come crashing down this year.

There is loads of holes in Hurricanes 2 champion hurdle wins, he was all out to beat Peddlers Cross who hasn't done a tap since, Oscar Whiskey in 3rd is more of a staying type and who was back in 4th at much the same distance he has been beating regularly in the mud in Ireland only Thousand Stars.

How can you say that Hurricane should've won 4 Champions Neil?, he was comprehensively beaten on genuine good ground in 2012, he missed the champion in 2010 but on a line through Solwhit who was beaten 18L's in that years Champion suggests he would've struggled against a peak form Binocular.

Silver,funny u say that about our conor,dessie hughes said afterwards the horse was about 90% fit,

So by the sounds of it he was out to blow the cobwebs away,if this was o'brien i doubt your comments would be so nice

if the horse got a clear run I'm sure Mullins would've been more forceful, but why knock him about when the birds had flown, at least the horse wasn't beat national hunt type distances like some of those Ballydoyle inmates, the horse at least tried.

But why is he sending a horse to the races blatantly unfit?is that not a gripe of yours silver?

the horse was there at the business end unlike some of the stinkers from the untouchables, roar.

Thats not the point though,The point im making and you're avoiding is horses been sent to race courses unfit.

tbh, what did he go off at 3/1 odd? that represents a 25% chance of winning and given his hurdles mark it clearly suggested that the stable weren't confident. He ran exactly the kind of race that the market suggested he would. hardy eustace used to regularly get turned over off seemingly winning hurdles marks too. While this ain't an excuse for sending a horse half-cocked, I don't think any of us can say we didn't see it coming... unless you were on early in the morning. Also, he probably just isn't that good a flat horse, he gains lengths at every hurdle after all.

*on the flat offaseemingly winnable hurdles marks- Hardy

weekend did little for or sgsinst Our Conner. but the new one has a serious turn of foot and must be the right fav as we stand,

hurricane a great horse but has won some poor renewals and is now 10

make it between Tent and New one

MTOY gonna be a serious horse this year imo