Michael O’Sullivan’s former mentor Barry Connell hopes Marine Nationale will present becoming tribute for fallen jockey at Cheltenham

They gathered to remember the colleague they had so tragically lost. Shoulder-to-shoulder, heads bowed, you could barely hear a pin drop at 1230pm on Tuesday, as Cheltenham paid tribute to Michael O’Sullivan.

O’Sullivan, with his film star looks and a talent for the ages, perished last month following a fall at Thurles, a provincial course in Ireland; he was just 24, the first jockey to die in action since 2003, and his passing has been impossible for family and friends to process.

The opening race of the Festival, the Supreme Novices Hurdle, was renamed in his honour but it will be on Wednesday when memories of him will be intensified as Marine Nationale – the horse that gave trajectory to his career like a bonfire night rocket – lines up in the Queen Mother Champion Chase.

Is victory somehow written in the stars? Barry Connell, Marine Nationale’s trainer and a huge influence on O’Sullivan, smiles warmly as he considers the prospect. He’s spent much of his 65 years chasing dreams and doesn’t discourage the nature of this conversation.

‘It has been hugely difficult for everyone,’ says Connell, who trains the horse he owns in genteel surrounds not far from the Curragh, Irish’s racing epicentre. ‘Michael was in our place for two years, he used to come in three days a week.

‘It’s well documented how we got together, I sat him down and convinced him to turn professional. Our journeys intersected. I’d only had my licence a couple of years, he’d only been tipping away in point-to-points and had been working on his college degree.

Michael O’Sullivan died last month following a fall at Thurles in Ireland, aged just 24 years old

O’Sullivan won the Supreme Novices Hurdle at Cheltenham in 2023, riding Marine Narionale

‘He only started riding at the same time as Marine Nationale came along. As it turned out, we had two good horses for him from this tiny little yard (the other being a hurdler called Good Land). We just went on a magical journey together, floating from one big day to another.’

They parted ways last November; situations can change in racing but the split didn’t alter their relationship. As we talk, the pride Connell – who was once a stockbroker – has in O’Sullivan is almost paternal and what they achieved together.

‘I spent a bit of time with his family after he had passed away, just to share stories about the journey we had,’ said Connell. ‘There are three generations in the family who have ridden and the racing communities in Ireland and England rallied around them.

‘It doesn’t make things any easier but they can look with pride on Michael’s career. He achieved more in two-and-a-half years what most will do in a lifetime. It’s a crumb of comfort. It’s been very raw for everyone and Cheltenham will be very poignant.’

Not least because that wonderful day in 2023, when O’Sullivan scythed through the field on Marine Nationale with breathtaking ease before scurrying up the run in, burns as vividly as the yellow silks that Connell’s horses carry. It was his second ride at the Festival and proved to be a masterpiece.

‘Perhaps Michael would have had the same opportunities in other yards,’ Connell reflects. ‘But it’s very difficult to ride in Ireland. He became a massive part of the operation and we haven’t found a precedent for this but he won his first five races at Graded level.

‘He won the Supreme going down to the first. He winged it, ended up besides Facile Vega, but he brought him back and stuck him in behind. He had one thought in mind – track him until after the last then have a go. The ride he gave the horse on the day was different level.’

There is a twinkle in Connell’s eye again; his love for the game is almost Corinthian and he achieved a dream of his own when riding two winners at jump racing’s most famous track; the first on The Posh Paddy in November 2003, the second on Shinrock Paddy five years later.

Barry Connell (centre) is Marine Nationale’s trainer and was a huge influence on O’Sullivan

Connell has paid a touching tribute and hopes Marine Nationale can pull off victory in O’Sullivan’s honour when he lines up in the Queen Mother Champion Chase at Cheltenham

To train the winner of the race that fascinated him most, however, would outstrip anything he’s achieved in his remarkable career and the confidence he has in Marine Nationale has only been fuelled by William Munney’s bold run behind Kopek Des Bordes in Tuesday’s Supreme.

‘I used to go to Cheltenham in the 1980s with friends from college,’ he says. ‘We used to stay in Stratford and get a coach over. The one race that always fascinated me was the Champion Chase – pure speed. I’d sooner win a Champion Chase than a Gold Cup.

‘When I was riding, I went in with my kitbag into the weighing room and it was like a Liverpool fan going in off The Kop to play with the lads! They were all there – AP McCoy, Richard Johnson. I ended up winning and I’ve never had a feeling like it in my life.

‘The interesting thing about this horse – and I hope that it applies to this year – is that he progresses with all his runs. He’s got pace and speed. I just hope that he keeps progressing. To win the Champion Chase? Well’s it’s Cheltenham. It’s a place where strange and magical things happen.’