Jonjo O'Neill Exclusive Interview

We’ll look back before we look ahead – winners at the festival each of the last 10 years and many great moments. Could you choose one highlight and why?

No doubt about that. Winning the Gold Cup has to be the highlight and to do that with Synchronised for JP McManus, who has been so much part of Jackdaws, made it even more special.  AP gave him an unbelievable ride.  The horse just began to bloom a couple of weeks before the race and the tragedy was that he was even better on National day.

As a trainer, what do you find it takes from a horse to win here at Cheltenham? How different is the festival and could you describe the atmosphere here in March?

"Winning the Gold Cup has to be the highlight"

They have to like the place, that's for sure.  Getting experience round the course, even if it's in October, is valuable and once they get the hang of it, that can be a great advantage for the big meeting.  Holywell is a good example of that. Taquin Du Seuil another, last season. John's Spirit too. Once they're out on the course, to be fair, it's the pace of the races in March that can catch even the best horses out. You can sometimes win a race in March with a horse that's inferior to another in terms of rating because the place  and the atmosphere suits them better.  Not being very far away suits us nicely as the can still be in their box at Jackdaws until late morning and they just have to go down the road.

When will we be seeing More Of That again and what will be the plans for him next season?

He'll be missing this year, which is a disappointment for everyone, particularly for JP.  He'll have a good holiday and we can start again in the autumn.

Auvergnat, Johns Spirit and Montdragon are entered in multiple races at the moment. What are your plans or thoughts as to where they will run?

It's difficult to say until much closer to the day.  We'll see how they are, what the ground is like and where other horses look to be heading.  Fortunately, we can leave that right to the last couple of days.

Are there any of your horses currently entered which you plan on skipping the festival with?

Shutthefrontdoor is the obvious one.  He's entered on Tuesday and we'll see whether that's the best plan for him on the way to getting him safely to Aintree.

What did you make of Taquin Du Seuil’s run in the Denman Chase and what do you make of his chances in the Ryanair?

Taquin Du Seuil - "Three miles is
beyond him at the moment"

We learnt plenty about him that day. Three miles is beyond him at the moment so we'll be sticking to two and a half and run him in either the Ryanair or the Handicap.

Johns Spirit ran very well early on in the season, could you share your thoughts on his run in the King George and how do you rate his chances in what now looks an open Ryanair Chase?

The Owner was keen to run to run him at Kempton and we were really pleased with how he went.  You'd not rule out another crack at the distance in the future.  For the time being, two and a half looks his best distance so the Ryanair is the obvious option.

Holywell looks a nice prospect for the Gold Cup – could you share your thoughts on the Gold Cup in general, possibly comment on the opposition and tell us what do you think of Holywell’s chances in the race?

He got his jumping together at Kelso and we were pleased with that run.  AP liked it but he'll be riding for JP so Holywell will be Richie's mount.  He's won at the last two festivals and he's definitely a spring horse. I'd say he's getting back to where we'd hope we'd be after that brilliant run under AP at Aintree so he's definitely worthy of run in the race.

Which of your horses do you feel are particularly underrated or may be going unnoticed heading towards the festival? Any dark horses which might surprise us?

"Goodwood Mirage might be our best hope of a win"

Goodwood Mirage has put AP on the floor a couple of times when we've felt he could have given a good account of himself.  He was the horse, if you remember, that extended AP's break from riding when they won at Wetherby.  He has a couple of options and if he could get over the first two or three hurdles safely, it will be interesting to see how he gets on.

Could you give us one tip for the festival and one horse to follow for next season?

One or two of Willie Mullins’ entries look serious contenders. Of our own, Goodwood Mirage might be our best hope of a win but they can soon make fools of us. Next season - Cloudy Copper never really showed us what we believe he is capable of and it would be nice to see him come back to the sort of form he showed us two seasons back.

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Goodwood Mirage is currently 20/1 for the Coral Cup, 20/1 for the County Hurdle and 16/1 for the Martin Pipe with Bet365. If you don't already have an account, open one here to avail of their special offers and free bets in the run-up to and throughout the Cheltenham festival!