Irish jockey JJ Slevin has shared his thoughts on the festive National Hunt racing action ahead of Christmas, with insights on Sir Gino's potential comeback, Constitution Hill's jumping woes, the historic thrills at Kempton, the evolving England-Ireland rivalry, and praise for the O'Brien training dynasty in an exclusive interview with BOY;E Sports.
The current rider has also highlighted his top three Christmas rides, including Fastorslow in the Savills Chase, exciting young hurdler Talk The Talk at Leopardstown, and Intense Raffles' strong prospects in the heavy-ground Welsh Grand National at Chepstow.
Henderson's Hurdling Team
Sir Gino Christmas Hurdle Comeback
Given what he went through with his serious injury, he’s a very good horse. He missed a large part of last season, but the fact that Nicky [Henderson] is thinking of bringing him back to the Christmas Hurdle after running him over fences shows the high regard he holds him in.
I don’t know what the story is with Constitution Hill, but in his absence, Sir Gino is a live contender.
Constitution Hill
I’d think so. It’s just very frustrating to see where he has ended up from being such a superstar.
He destroyed Jonbon in the Supreme and bolted up in the Champion Hurdle. Then he’s fallen in three of his last four runs, most recently at Newcastle. It’s really tough to watch what has happened, and it's not going to be easy to fix it. If you told me I could have him for six weeks, I think I could get him jumping well at home, and he'd be going well. But then you could send him out and run him again, and he could fall again.
I don't care what they say about riding or schooling; I think it's going to be hard to fix it. If I were Nicky Henderson and I was training him. I'd be very nervous on the stands looking at him. It wouldn't be easy now; he's got the right people around him. Nico [de Boinville, jockey] is an unbelievable horseman, and Nicky Henderson is a genius. So, if anyone's going to fix it, it'll be them.
Ultimately, it depends on the horse. Every horse is different, and you have to treat every horse as an individual. Some horses can be lazy jumpers and not be getting their front end up. A fall can help a horse to concentrate. Constitution Hill has probably lost his nerve and is not thinking the way he did on his approach to a hurdle, and he’s paid the price for that. He can probably do all the schooling you want at home, and he could look brilliant and hunky dory. If he got up to Champion Hurdle speed, he could do it again.
With every Champion hurdler, you're living on the edge all the time. Most of them, with the exception probably of Hurricane Fly, do fall. I fell on Istabraq.
Getting Back To His Best
It does. In a world in which the Irish have had most of the good horses, it is good to see the English with a proper horse that they can latch onto and follow. Michael Buckley seems to be a great character, and Nicky and Nico are masters of what they do.
It would be great to see him come back and strut his stuff again and hopefully stay upright ! I wouldn't be writing him off by any means, you know.
Kempton's Battles and Historic Rivalry
Kempton Battles
Silviniaco Conti was good. There have been some great King Georges: Kauto Star, winning five, Long Run, and Cue Card.
There's been some unbelievable battles up the street in Kempton, and it’s never not won by a top-class horse.
The English-Irish Rivalry
It can definitely sway back again. I grew up with the point-to-points. My Dad trained pointers, and I would have been point to pointing from a very young age. I watched all those Irish lads produce all those horses; Wexford was a big producer, Tom Costello in Clare was a big producer of horses, and the Cork circuit was massive back then. I was watching all these horses win Irish point of points and be sold to England straight away and compete in England. I remember back when Ireland had three, four or five winners was a massive week for the Irish at Cheltenham.
Then, with the way the superpowers have expanded, Willie has upped his game, Gordon, Henry De Bromhead, all these lads have upped their game, and they've managed to attract the owners to stay in Ireland, and they've been able to buy the most expensive horses and be able to keep those horses in Ireland. It’s certainly shifting back a little bit more. Dan Skelton has invested heavily, Harry Derham, Paul Nicholls, Philip Hobbs, these lads are still quite strong and buying nice horses. It takes very little to swing the thing back the other way, back the way it used to be.
It's definitely starting to level out more for the Irish and English when they're not far off competing and playing on a level playing field again.
The O'Brien Training Dynasty
Joseph O’Brien
Joseph works very hard, that’s a given. They all do. They live and breathe horses, from breeding through to training. They think about nothing else from the time they get up in the morning to the time they go to bed at night. So, it's a lot of hard work, and they've accumulated a lot of knowledge over the years, and obviously, they've got a natural feel for it.
Without that, you wouldn’t be going too far, I can tell you. The way they manage people is always very important. They have a big staff and are such nice people. He's fortunate to be training in a great location, with great facilities and great gallops. But the minute he set foot there, he's improved it every year. He's built, he's improved his facilities, and improved the quality of horses. He hasn't stopped bringing things forward from the moment he got in there. It’s massive to see where he has come from.
Even though he's got a good start, he's fairly made the most of it. He's only going one way, and that's up! He has cut down on his jumpers, but the door is going to be open for a good jumping horse, and nice high quality jumping horses. He has a select team, maybe 20 horses, but each horse that comes in the door has got the chance to be a good horse, and when they come in the door with the potential to be a good horse, Joseph is able to get the best out of them. Horses that come in there as good horses often improve and get better.
Joseph has a real passion for jump racing, and the training facility really lends itself to jumping horses. It's been very successful. Joseph enjoys jumping, and he has a jumping pedigree. Both sides of the family were heavily involved in jump racing. He's just got a love for jumping, a love for racing in general. I don't think he'll be reducing things anymore. I'd say he'll always have his fair share of jumping horses.
Aidan O’Brien
He’s trained more than 1,000 winners, which is crazy for someone who's only trained for not even a decade, and is still only 32. But Aidan's not slowing down anytime soon. Aidan is still a young man, too, and he's still got the same hunger and the same drive to get better.
But if anyone is going to chase him down, it'll probably be Joseph. But he'll have his work cut out too, I'd say, with the things Aidan does and the firepower he has, you know.
Top Christmas Racing Prospects
Welsh Grand National
This could be my first visit to Chepstow this year for the Welsh National. I think Intense Raffles is going to go. He’s won an Irish National, but didn’t like the English National, didn’t like the fences. He’ll love the heavy ground; he’ll love four miles, and he’ll love Chepstow.
Tom Gibney has him in good shape. He ran well in the Hennessy, the Caral Gold Cup. He ran well in that. The ground was a little bit dry, but he showed up well for a long way. He could have a little squeak in that, hopefully.
My Top Three Christmas Rides
Fastorslow in the Savils.
We have a horse called Talk The Talk - he's a young horse who won a Newbury bumper, won a Limerick maiden hurdle and a Grade 3 in Fairyhouse. He’ll probably go to the Grade 1 in Leopardstown over two miles. He's quite an exciting horse for Joseph.
And I’m really looking forward to Intense Raffles in the Welsh National. I think it will suit him over there. It’s a hard race to win, but on his day, Intense Raffles is a fair animal. He’s very adaptable and loves soft ground.
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