Sean Flanagan will once again partner champion chaser Marine Nationale when he takes part in the Dublin Racing Festival this weekend, looking to replicate his heroics that saw him win at Prestbury Park in March.
In the latest episode of Unbridled, when Flanagan was asked if the highs and lows of his previous career flashed through his mind after crossing the line in Gloucestershire that day, he replied: “It hasn’t actually flashed into my brain, but I am mentally very aware of the struggles everyone around me and myself have had to go through to get to where I am today.”
The results were particularly heartbreaking in the wake of the tragedy that struck Marine Nationale jockey Michael O’Sullivan, who died after a crash in Thurles a month ago.
Flanagan said: “I had been riding with Michael before the accident, but he was still attached to the horse afterwards. I fell over the same fence in Thurles that day and was very involved. I had a lot of emotions throughout the day.”
Lining up alongside stars such as Jonbon and previous winner Captain Guinness at Cheltenham just a few weeks later, the Marine Nationale did O’Sullivan proud. Jumped up the hill to take Grade 1 glory by 18 lengths.
Reflecting on the moments that followed, Flanagan recalled: “As I walked around the top of the chute, I thought, ‘Jesus, it’s all paid off.’” “It’s amazing to think there can only be one winner, but isn’t it Cheltenham?”
Marine Nationale won last year’s Champion Chase.
Why is Marine Nationale so good?
When asked about the nuances surrounding Cornell’s stardom, the 37-year-old explained: “I’ve ridden a few decent two-mile hurdlers, but not many. Some of them didn’t really feel like they were going to jump. They swayed, bent their knees, couldn’t make any shape and were gone. This young man had a similar feeling over the fence.
“Forget his mistake at Leopardstown. The mistake he makes is jumping too cleanly for a two-mile chaser. He usually does it on his first or second run of the season and may lose minimal ground. But that’s only early in the race.
“If you blindfold someone and put them in the National Marine Corps sending them over two fences, you wouldn’t know when that person left the ground. That person is so smooth in the air.”
Leopardstown salvation on the agenda of the Dublin Racing Festival
The Boherbaun Stables team is eyeing what went wrong on the Marine Nationale’s last trip to Leopardstown when a mistake at the penultimate hurdle saw him beaten by half a length in the Paddy’s Rewards Club Chase on December 27.
Reflecting on the incident in which he almost became separated from his horse, Flanagan said: “That was a mistake. I watched the recording the next day to see what happened and he left the ground a step ahead of the wing and landed literally right on top of the ship meeting the actual birch tree.”
He just threw me forward, and he almost hit the ground and then stopped and I almost ran over his tail. If Keith (Donoghue aboard Only By Night) hadn’t been there I could have been loaded into the ambulance because I was doing one reign to not get away from him. Pat Healy has a picture of him, but he was in the fence, so it was a mistake.
Marine Nationale was denied by Solness in the Paddy’s Rewards Club Chase.
Optimism appears to be rising in the stable ahead of Sunday’s Grade 1 Dublin Chase over two miles.
Flanagan said: “I don’t ride him. Gareth Cotter rides him every day and he’s in fantastic form. I spoke to Barry last night and he was very happy for him. They’re very happy. I don’t think the ground will be an issue. He won the Royal Bond on soft ground and when he won the Supreme, it was also soft ground. It’s not that he ran away, but Solness around Leopardstown – he’s finding it difficult to continue. The ground may be stinging from him.
Trainer and owner Barry Connell was upbeat about his horse, especially in the wake of Clarence House at Ascot, which saw Jonbon retain his crown even after the fall of Il Etait Temps. He told the press: “I can’t see any horse having a chance in the Champion Chase. I couldn’t see it before the race and I can’t see it after the race. I think if we get a clear round we’ll win.”
Asked about Connell’s credibility with the media, Flanagan said: “The situation is very different because Barry is both a trainer and an owner. Sometimes the problem can arise that the trainer may tell you something. That’s okay because you ride for the trainer but you also ride for the owner. If the trainer and owner don’t agree with what you’re asked to do and what you’ve done, that’s when you’re in the firing line.
“If the trainer and the owner are 100 percent on the same page because they’re the same person, it narrows things down. He’s great to ride because he lets me ride him the way I think he needs to be ridden. But we’re on the same page. I think that makes it a little easier. If he can go and say what he wants to say, it won’t affect my judgment of how I ride the horse. If he’s good enough, he’ll win, and if he’s not.”
Flanagan once again identified Solness as a major threat for Sunday’s Dublin Chase, saying: “Solness has beaten him three times. Marine Nationale is another horse at Cheltenham. Solness may beat him at Leopardstown, but I don’t think he will beat him at Cheltenham.”
What’s happening in the rest of the yard?
William Munny has not been seen since chasing home Kopek Des Bordes in last year’s Michael O’Sullivan Supreme Novices’ Hurdle. His Christmas comeback was marred by a pulled muscle in his backside.
However, there are positive signs from the camp as Flanagan revealed: “He’s up again and walking a lot. I don’t think it’s too far off when he’ll be in the saddle soon. I hope the story is Punchestown, but he’s one of those horses I don’t think will do any harm this time.
William Munny could next head to Punchestown (Photo: Healy Racing)
He’s just a big, old, raw horse with endless abilities. I was really, really looking forward to him this year. “The division is open and he could have been a big contender.”
The yard is also optimistic about the seven-year-old hurdler Eachtotheirown, with the jockey saying: “He’s a really nice horse. We were very fortunate that he ran under par in the Royal Bond and got a good score behind him. He won really well and gained 14lbs for that. There’s talk of a Supreme entry that wouldn’t hurt anyone and he could run a good race. He’s a big chaser for sure.”
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