One of Britain's most prominent National Hunt racing yards has taken the extraordinary step of temporarily halting all runners after enduring a prolonged period of disappointing results.
Stable Grinds to a Halt
The training partnership of legendary former jockey Jonjo O'Neill and his son AJ, operating from the prestigious Jackdaws Castle facility in Gloucestershire, has not seen a winner for 25 days. More notably, the yard has not had a single runner for the past 14 days during what is traditionally a crucial part of the jumps racing season.
This represents a dramatic downturn for a yard that enjoyed considerable success last season, sending out 72 winners and earning over £1.2 million in prize money during their first campaign working together. In stark contrast, their tally for the first six months of the current season stands at just 13 winners.
Underlying Issues Discovered
The situation was clarified by jockey Jonjo O'Neill Jr, who explained the reasoning behind the decision in an interview with RacingTV. "Dad and AJ weren't that happy with the way the horses were starting off the season," he revealed. "They did tests through the whole yard and there was obviously something going around."
He praised the decisive action, stating it "takes a bit of balls to halt it this time of the season." Despite some horses still performing reasonably well, the training team was not satisfied with the overall condition of the string and made the call to 'pull the plug' on entries.
Looking to the Future
The yard, owned by leading racehorse owner JP McManus and a producer of both Grand National and Cheltenham Gold Cup winners, is now focusing on recovery. Jonjo O'Neill Jr indicated that the team is looking forward to restarting their campaign, with hopes of having runners again from the end of next week.
He acknowledged the difficulty of the situation but expressed confidence in his father's experienced judgement. "Dad has a lot of experience and he just wasn't that happy with them. His eye has seen a lot more things than I have," he said. "It's been tough for the yard but we still have the horses and when they're right they'll come back fine."
The stable's patience, and that of their owners, will be tested, but the team remains optimistic that this temporary stoppage will lead to a successful return to form for the Jackdaws Castle operation.
