AJ O’Neill: Cheltenham Starts Are a Farce, But the Irish Grand…

Published on April 1st, 2026

Ahead of the BOYLE Sports Irish Grand National on Monday, trainer AJ O'Neill has spoken highly about Monday's race and the impact of BOYLE Sports sponsorship, his memories of the race and his assessment of the Fairyhouse as a track.

0'Neill has spoken candidly on the Cheltenham 2026 Festival, arguing that stalls are not a solution to the start issue at the festival but described it as a "farce" while also reflecting on the personal highs and lows of the event from a personal perspective coupling the enjoy of their large team with the pain of losing HMS Seahorse ,

Elsewhere, he speaks about the changing times in the Horse Racing industry and reveals that he was once a farmer but had to think of something else to make ends meat!

The Irish Grand National’s Rising Profile

It's a race of such prestige. The prize money is massive as well; it’s the most valuable National Hunt race in Ireland . It's not quite as famous as the English National perhaps, but it’s not far off, and its profile is getting bigger every year.

BOYLE Sports sponsorship is so important. In the last couple of seasons, generally in racing, we have had a little bit of a decline in prize money, and that is a shame because expenses for everyone are going up, for owners, for trainers, for everyone involved. So fair play to Boyles for putting up such a fantastic pot for the Irish national, which it deserves to be.

My IGN Memories

We've been fourth a couple of times, including with Latest Exhibition , who was the favourite and been beaten seven or eight lengths. The first race I’d properly remember was in 1984 when Bentom Boy won, ridden by A nn Ferris. She was the first female rider to win the race.

My family wouldn't have been from a horsey background at all. But I used to fake illness to skive off school to watch Cheltenham . I’d pretend to be sick every time the Festival was on!

Fairyhouse

It's a very, very good track. There are no real excuses in it. The best horse normally wins. I think it's even better again since the fences have been made that bit softer. It was a very tough course to jump around. The fences were famously solid. It's a good thing all round that the fences are made that bit softer. It's the full field for a start. It's important for horses to get their position at the start. We know the starts have become a big topic of conversation. With those big fields, it is not easy on the jockeys. So many of the field are told to be in the first line. But not everyone can be!

It's not like they're in running lanes like athletes. It's not as simple as that. But the start is very important. There are times, too, when horses have to parade, and they do get a bit hyper, while some horses are quiet because of the crowds and the music and the noise and all. Different horses can get wired up and possibly lose the race in the parade before they go on to the track.

Stalls Not A Solution To Cheltenham Farce

I don't think so. If you've got heavy ground and they're moving the stalls from different parts of the track, that isn’t good. Maybe they can drop them down from a helicopter! No, it’s not feasible. But surely something can be done to sort out the mess at some starts so we don’t have to go through the farcical situations that we've seen in Cheltenham for the last couple of seasons.

It can happen at any track, and it can happen anytime, and it can be the jockey that’s wrong or the starter. But they're surely going to have to do something about it. It's impossible to keep horses still in a line by the tape. Horses are trained and taught to be afraid of an electric fence, and that's what a tape looks like to them. So, how in the name of God, whoever came up with the idea to have a standing start where every horse's nose is virtually an inch away from the tape, whatever man thought of that idea is definitely not from a farming or breeding background.

Cheltenham Loss

We had 11 runners in Cheltenham , our biggest contingent. It was double whatever it had been before. They ran well, we were third, and we were fourth, and we lost poor old HMS Seahorse , who fell at the last in the Handicap Hurdle. He would have definitely been in the winners’ enclosure. That was awfully unfortunate and very sad. Feet Of A Dancer ran her race and was third in the Mares’ Hurdle. She is a very consistent mare. Maybe three miles on that sort of ground wasn’t to her strength. Two and a half on heavier ground or softer ground would be her best.

I'm hoping with Punchestown coming up, we'll probably enter her in the Mares ’ race. But she'd find it very difficult. She's not going to beat Wodhooh , and she probably won't beat Jade De Grugy . But we'll definitely enter her in the Mares ’ and see what happens. And we'll probably enter the Stayers ’ as well.

Changing Times

We're just very grateful to have the owners that we've had in that time. We would have had an awful lot of horses with syndicates from the construction industry. But with the financial crash that was like a tap being turned off as so many businesses went under. An awful lot of fellas had horses for the first time, and they went.

An awful lot of people went through tough times then. We were just lucky enough to have the owners to pull us out of it. We are pretty much a family affair here, and we're just delighted to be able to keep the flag flying with as many winners as we can every year, and hopefully trying to attract more owners to have because it's all a numbers game. You have to have the numbers to compete. The changes have been massive. The expense of the staff, the book work and everything involved with the horses now, the medicine side of it have gone to a very high level.

I Was Once A Farmer

The outlook with farming here was not great. We had a lot of sheep here, and I could never see myself getting the decent wage out of it, as well as my father and mother and trying to keep everything like that. I couldn't see much light at the end of the tunnel.

I had to think of doing something else. I chose horses, and thankfully it turned out lucky, and thankfully we're still at it. We’ve had 18 winners this season and two at Doncaster in January with Feet of a Dancer and Thedeviluno , ridden by Sean O’Keeffe. That was a memorable day.