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Thread: Barry Connell

  1. #21
    Senior Member fonz's Avatar
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    I wasnt able to see the novice chase and sprinters race today,what was so bad about townend,ive always liked him.

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    Quote Originally Posted by fonz View Post
    what was so bad about townend,ive always liked him.
    I might be being a bit harsh on the lad, it was more the tactics than anything else. It's like Mullins decided Back in Focus was the one and steered Ruby onto him and left Paul to hack round on the better horse. Don't get it.

  3. #23
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    C'mon, Euro.
    They knew that his stablemate - dropping back 1m in trip - would have to force a strong pace, and PT didn't look overly concerned when well out the back at halfway, but he was clearly moving into contention when getting the 2nd last all wrong, and who knows what might have been from that point on.
    Jockeys were declared when heavy ground looked likely, and Ruby was on the stronger stayer, but the ground didn't look at all bad to me, and it showed in the way his mount ran.

  4. #24
    Senior Member Euronymous's Avatar
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    I read reports that Willie steered Ruby onto BiF. He's in danger of fecking up the horse like he did Mikael d'Haguenet.

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    I would venture that Mullins has forgotten more about training than you'll ever know.

    How much did you have on Boston Bob?

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    In fairness, while Boston Bob was detached for most of the race, he was right back in contention when he fell at the second last.

  7. #27
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    Quote Originally Posted by BennyB View Post
    I would venture that Mullins has forgotten more about training than you'll ever know.

    How much did you have on Boston Bob?
    £65.

    I just don't want to see BB go the same way of Mikael d'Haguenet.

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    I don't think anyone does. However phrases like 'Townend is a useless twat' and 'Mullins is fecking up the horse' are a bit OTT to be honest and I would suggest a bit of pocket talk.

    Let's see how the horse goes next season before making a judgement. Also FWIW I think Townend is one of the better jocks riding at present.

  9. #29
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    Do you think he can pull off a surprise on Quito in the big one?

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    Senior Member granger's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by harry View Post
    Do you think he can pull off a surprise on Quito in the big one?
    No
    Some people say he’s the best since Arkle and that’s certainly true when you look at what he’s done

  11. #31
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    Quote Originally Posted by BennyB View Post
    I don't think anyone does. However phrases like 'Townend is a useless twat' and 'Mullins is fecking up the horse' are a bit OTT to be honest and I would suggest a bit of pocket talk.
    There might be an element of pocket talk, but ultimately that's the second consecutive race he's taken part in where imo he was the best horse present. Very frustrating - even more so given how he's smashed up the winner in the past.

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    There is an interesting article on Barry in current Phoenix magazine.
    I will try put it up here if i can.

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    Senior Member granger's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by edgt View Post
    There is an interesting article on Barry in current Phoenix magazine.
    I will try put it up here if i can.
    Did they manage to get a smile out of him?
    Some people say he’s the best since Arkle and that’s certainly true when you look at what he’s done

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    Will put it up later unless there are licensing issues but if so, guess I'll soon find out.

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    TEN YEARS ago, Dublin-based hedge fund manager and former stockbroker Barry Connell looked odds-on to become one of the leading players in the ranks of Ireland’s national hunt owners. He had indulged his passion for race riding by riding his own horses in bumpers for a number of years but, when a shoulder injury put paid to that adrenaline-fuelled aspect of his life, he concentrated on increasing the quantity and quality of his string. Having flirted with becoming one of the really big boys, recently the going has been proving a bit too heavy for the Carrickmines-based millionaire.
    Connell is not well known outside of racing circles, despite the fact that he is one of the biggest national hunt racehorse owners in the country, with only the likes of JP McManus, Mick O’Leary and Rich Ricci finishing ahead of him regularly in the pecking order over the last decade. Connell made his money having started out with NCB before leaving to become a founder, with John Conroy, of Merrion Capital. In 2000, the stockbroker-cumjockey set up and ran the hedge fund Rockview-Merrion (partly named after his south Dublin pile), which was restricted to high-net-worth individuals willing to invest U1.5m a pop, with Connell himself an investor here. He resigned from Rockview in 2009 to focus on the turf and, these days, is not listed as a director of any company. Although Connell first tasted Cheltenham Festival success as an owner in 2007, when Pedrobob won the County Hurdle, it was the 2009/10 jumps season that proved more significant for Connell as he registered his first Grade 1 success when Shinrock Paddy won at Navan for trainer Paul Nolan, while Western Leader emerged as a high-class prospect for ‘Shark’ Hanlon. At that stage, Connell had his growing string dispersed among a number of trainers, including the late Dessie Hughes, Ted Walsh, Mags Mullins, Tony Mullins, Colm Murphy and Conor O’Dwyer. It wasn’t long before a number of expensive equine recruits were added. These recruits – who included the likes of Luska Lad and Pineau de Re – helped Connell post 12 winners in 2010/11 for prize money of just under E200,000. Things continued to ramp up and, while the former financier was investing decent moolah, he really signalled his intentions when forking out £¼m for bumper winner Mount Benbulben at the Cheltenham Sale in April 2011. The horse was purchased through bloodstock agent Gerry Hogan – who would become Connell’s ‘go to’ man for acquiring race horses – and was sent to an up-and-coming trainer named Gordon Elliott.

    FULFILLING POTENTIAL

    Connell’s squad for the 2011/12 season numbered over 30 horses spread across 14 different trainers. It was also bolstered by Minsk, a big-money private purchase out of the John Oxx yard, who was sent to Dessie Hughes to go hurdling. Unsurprisingly, given the number of horses on his roster, it ended up being Connell’s best season to date, with 19 winners and E285,000 in prize money – landing him in fourth place in the leading owners’ table. However, a number of the high-profile acquisitions were starting to look a bit flakey. In fairness, Mount Benbulben was hugely talented, but he was also quirky and squandered a Grade 1 winning opportunity at Navan through some erratic jumping. Minsk, meanwhile, would run only once during the season, also finishing second in a hurdle at Fairyhouse. Connell’s commitment showed no signs of waning, however, and he began 2012/13 with a string of around 50 horses, many of these expensively bought youngsters, of which several would go on to prove themselves top-class runners. Others, though, would never come close to delivering on their potential. Mount Benbulben eventually repaid some of his hefty price tag, winning a Grade 1 chase at the Punchestown Festival at the end of the season. And there was significant promise shown by a couple of the younger brigade, such as Foxrock, The Tullow Tank and Martello Tower. The close of the 2013 season, however, saw Connell make a decision that he would have cause to regret 12 months later. Shortly after winning the Ulster National at Downpatrick, the moneybags decided his Philip Fenton-trained Pineau De Re had reached the zenith of his potential and he offloaded him for £15,000 at a sale in Doncaster. The horse was bought by the shrewd John Provan whose trainer, Richard Newland, campaigned him with the following year’s Aintree Grand National in mind. Sure enough, Pineau De Re landed the £½m first prize by five lengths. The 2013 season also saw Danny Mullins cement his position as Connell’s number one rider. His victory aboard Mount Benbulben at Punchestown saw the team finish the season high on confidence after bagging 26 winners for almost E350,000. Expectations were high that the strong squad would deliver significant success the following season. At this stage, the racing community had become accustomed to Connell forking out big bucks for horseflesh, often for animals that had won a point to point or bumper in impressive fashion, such as Golantilla, who Connell bought for E375,000 from smallscale Cork trainer Sean O’Brien before sending him on to Tony Martin. That figure was duly put in the shade when the big spender swooped for Our Conor in the summer of 2013. The gelding had stormed home in the Triumph Hurdle at Cheltenham a few months prior to that and looked one of the sport’s brightest stars. Although it was never confirmed, Connell is believed to have paid E1m for the horse, but it was a tale that would end in unfortunate circumstances. Trained by Dessie Hughes, Our Conor began his campaign for Connell in promising fashion, chasing home Hurricane Fly on two occasions before he lined up in the 2014 Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham as one of the leading contenders. Unfortunately, Our Conor suffered a fatal fall early in the race and his demise was a blow not only to the horse’s owner but also to the Injured Jockeys Fund, to which any prize moneys had been pledged.

    Connell clearly understands the substantial risks associated with jump racing and, while the loss of Our Conor was a serious personal and financial blow for him, the owner remained focused on a strategy to acquire a team of high-class racehorses. The 2013/14 season had its fair share of high points, including two Grade 1 wins for The Tullow Tank, which earmarked the Philip Fenton-trained gelding as a potential Irish banker for Cheltenham. That potential was not tested, however, as Connell made the surprise decision to withdraw the horse from Cheltenham when the meeting coincided with Fenton’s trial over the discovery of anabolic steroids at his training facility. At the time, Connell declared his support for the trainer but, upon the latter’s conviction, The Tullow Tank was immediately transferred to Dessie Hughes. Foxrock was Connell’s other main flagbearer throughout the season, winning a pair of Grade 2 staying chases, but he disappointed when he was a well-beaten favourite for the 2014 National Hunt Chase at Cheltenham. The Ted Walsh trained horse would be back in the headlines the following season, however, but for the wrong reasons. Despite a drop in the number of winners to 20, Connell’s horses amassed just over E450,000 in prize money. While that looks a more than-respectable sum, it would not have covered the cost of keeping his 50-strong string in training for the year, let alone the cost involved in acquiring them.

    CONTINUED SPENDING

    The hedge fund business had been kind to Connell and the spending continued throughout 2014 and beyond. Eyebrows were raised when Gerry Hogan bid £160,000 on behalf of the south Dublin owner for the 11-year-old point to pointer Mossey Joe, a high-class but injury-plagued chaser whose best runs were clearly behind him. That, indeed, proved to be the case. A point-to-point win and a third placing in the Foxhunters Chase at Aintree in 2014 – for which he picked up a cheque for a paltry £3,500 – were the high points in Mossey Joe’s short-lived career for his new connections. The 2014/15 season also saw a change in personnel for Team Connell after he dispensed of the services of Danny Mullins in favour of Adrian Heskin. This must have created a slightly awkward situation, given that one of his trainers was Mags Mullins, mother of Danny and trainer of Connell’s highest achiever that season, Martello Tower. That horse subsequently fended off the Danny Mullins-ridden Milsean to win the 2015 Grade 1 Albert Bartlett Hurdle at Cheltenham. Earlier in the season, the aforementioned Foxrock was in the news after Connell’s gelding caught the eye of the stewards when finishing third in a chase at Punchestown in December. The outing was being used as a prep race for the valuable Paddy Power Chase at Connell’s beloved Leopardstown Christmas festival and jockey Adrian Heskin delivered a tender ride. The case took an intriguing turn when Ted Walsh reported that Foxrock’s performance had been compromised by the fact he lost two front shoes during the race. Video footage, however, subsequently emerged of Foxrock returning to the stables post-race with what looked like his shoes intact. This prompted the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board to reopen the enquiry but, ultimately, Walsh was cleared of any wrongdoing. In the meantime, Foxrock went off 7/2 favourite for the E180,000 Paddy Power Chase at Leopardstown, but had to settle for second place. In 2015, Connell installed Alan Fleming as a private trainer in a custom-built training facility based at French Furze on the Curragh. The partnership ran a few horses from that base that season, sending out four winners in total. The 2015/16 season was the most successful one to date for Connell as he enjoyed 32 winners, scooping just under E½m in prize money. This haul, however, wasn’t sufficient to get him into the top five on the leaderboard, as he was leapfrogged by Alan & Ann Potts and Graham & Andrea Wylie behind the usual big three at the top. While enjoying a strong season numerically with winners, there were no stars emerging. Some of the previous season’s high achievers had their limits exposed and their form had started to taper off. More and more of the string were gradually transferred to Fleming as the operation became almost totally in-house – a strategy that carries a number of risks. As the 2015/16 season came to a close, Connell decided it was time for another jockey change and Adrian Heskin was replaced by Denis O’Regan after two seasons in the position. With a new jockey and a private trainer fully stocked with approximately 50 expensive horses, Connell would have been forgiven for being optimistic ahead of the 2016/17 season. Instead, it was a season to forget – and delivered only 13 winners. More depressingly, the operation only fielded 97 runners throughout the season, which averages at just two runs per horse. A shining beacon among a dismal season was the victory of Tully East in the Close Brothers Chase at the Cheltenham Festival, a victory that no doubt gave both Fleming and O’Regan some much-needed breathing space. Last year, the ship was steadied somewhat as Fleming sent out 20 winners, 18 of those for Connell and two in the colours of Connell’s son, Rory (who works at Merrion Capital).

    LACK OF RISING STARS

    There was, however, the ongoing problem of the absence of any rising stars, despite huge sums of money being invested. A number of expensive acquisitions showed promise, but failed to progress and were ultimately bitterly disappointing based on their price tags. Edelpour, bought for E450,000 in 2017, has yet to win a race in seven attempts; Timewaitsfornoone, bought for £225,000, has a single Hunter Chase win to his name and will do well to add to that score; Suncroft, bought for E130,000, admittedly showed some potential but died before realising it. The current season has again seen a regression in the racing fortunes of Connell and Fleming. The partnership has sent out a miserable seven winners from around 100 runners – a poor strike rate considering the quality of horse and scale of investment, not to mention the dedicated facility at which they are trained. So, where has it all gone awry? One obvious theory is that Connell went from a successful situation, having his horses trained by a number of different trainers, to having them all under the one umbrella. While clearly keen to develop his own private operation, Connell had put all his eggs in one basket, leaving himself exposed should the trainer fail to deliver. Of course, Rich Ricci has all his horses with Willie Mullins and, therefore, has run that same risk, but there is only one Mullins. With all due respect to Alan Fleming, nobody would suggest he is in the same league. The question for the racing community and for those who benefit from the major investment made by Connell is how long such a situation is sustainable. For Connell to stay in racing, he will need to get a better return for his investment – and not necessarily a financial return. Wealthy people do not get into national hunt racing to make money; they do it for the glory of seeing their horses win on the big stage. Presumably, Connell needs to be experiencing that buzz on a more regular basis to justify his huge investment. Fairyhouse this week and Punchestown at the end of the month represent the last throws of the dice this season to get Connell’s yellow and black silks into that coveted big-race-winners enclosure but, despite a large number of horses at French Furze, it is hard to see where the next winner will come from. Perhaps Mount Pelier is the horse to put a gloss on a disappointing season. This E120,000 purchase seems on an upward curve, judged on his last win at Naas, and maybe he can bring an air of optimism to French Furze. For Barry Connell, this is the least he will be banking on.

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  18. #36
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    An excellent read.

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    Quote Originally Posted by LUKE View Post
    An excellent read.
    Really was. Hard to imagine a racing publication producing anything like it

    For such a successful man he needs to let go of his control issues and delegate to people who are more in the know than him
    Some people say he’s the best since Arkle and that’s certainly true when you look at what he’s done

  20. #38
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    Some people are just unlucky.
    i feel for the guy , would love to see one horse go right for him.
    Consider his Foxhunter Chase horse this year; fell at the first, fell again at fence two , yet finished first past the post.
    Tully East again today though not going to win made a lousy mistake two out when in the mix.

  21. #39
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    Jaysus mossey Joe, had forgotten about him!!

    Sent from my SM-J415FN using Tapatalk

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    Barry paid over 400k for 2 pointers last night at the Punchestown sale.

    It's been a few years since he restocked via the pointing field.

    Wonder did he read the article and think I'll show them!

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