Two-Horse Trainer Hopes to Keep Grand National Fairytale Tradition Alive
Victory with Oscars Brother for trainer Connor King and jockey Daniel King would be one of the most remarkable tales in the 187-year history of the world's most famous steeplechase, the Grand National. Connor King, a 29-year-old with just two horses in his stable and fewer than 30 runners in his career, needs a little persuading to see the potential of this story. "It's probably hard [to see] when you're in the situation," the trainer said this week. "When you're looking in from the outside, it might be easier."
An Implausible Journey to Aintree
The Grand National amplifies everything: triumph, despair, and drama. Even by the standards of what has always been a race apart, King's journey from his tiny stable in County Tipperary to Liverpool skirts the border between implausible and absurd. His brother, Daniel, will ride Oscars Brother on Saturday, and to complete the sense of an artificial intelligence-written film script with the believability filter switched off, the horse was originally picked out at the sales for just €8,000 (£7,000) by their father, Richard.
Some jumps fans feel that the Grand National's heart and soul have been extinguished by changes to the course and race conditions over the past 20 years, which have improved the quality of runners. They claim there is no place for underdogs and dreamers anymore, but Oscars Brother is a compelling argument against this view.
From Humble Beginnings to Prominent Betting
The last time Connor King went to Aintree, as a 22-year-old jockey in 2018, there were about 8,000 spectators. He finished fifth of eight runners in a hurdle race aboard a 25-1 chance. On Saturday, it will be a 65,000 sellout when Oscars Brother goes to post, and the eight-year-old is prominent in the latest betting at around 16-1. "It's unreal, so I'm just trying to take it all in and enjoy it as best I can," King says. "Because it doesn't happen every day. But it's why you get into the game. If you're a jockey, you want to ride the winner of that race, if you're a trainer and you're buying a store horse, you're thinking that's the biggest goal."
One major obstacle has already been avoided, as Oscars Brother's horsebox managed to avoid traffic chaos around Dublin on Thursday caused by protests over fuel prices. "We managed to avoid all that," King says. "And on Saturday we'll try to treat it like any other day, more or less. You'd like to think he's got a chance, but it's a very competitive race and some really good horses, so hopefully he'll just have a bit of luck on the day and everything will go well."
Recent Performance and Race Dynamics
Oscars Brother was King's first runner in Britain when he lined up for the Brown Advisory Novice Chase at Cheltenham last month, and he outran his starting price of 18-1 to finish fourth. He was staying on best of all in the final quarter mile, suggesting he could improve over the marathon four-and-a-quarter-mile trip at Aintree on Saturday.
The modern Grand National is far less predictable than the races of yesteryear that critics remember fondly. Once, it was possible to rule out half the field based on weight or ability, but now, perhaps only half a dozen in the 34-strong field can be ruled out with confidence. Younger chasers, like Oscars Brother in his novice season, stand more of a chance now that minor mistakes are survivable. Noble Yeats, at 50-1 four years ago, was the first seven-year-old winner since 1940 and the first in decades to win in his first season over fences. Two of the next three winners have been eight-year-olds, and since 2015, 164 horses aged 10 or above have gone to post without a win.
A Winner Regardless of Outcome
In a sense, King is a winner simply by having a runner in Saturday's race, as the exposure and attention have been priceless for a young trainer starting out. The Grand National itself is a winner too, with Oscars Brother in the field. It is a different event these days, yet it retains its ability to come up with a runner and a backstory that would seem utterly ridiculous—if this were anywhere but Aintree.
