If you want to back a winner at the 2026 Cheltenham Festival, take a look at hat-trick seeker Marine Nationale. The 2025 Champion Chase winner returns to defend his title, and is set to peak at just the right time.
So far, Marine Nationale has been to the Cheltenham Festival twice. The first time he beat the favourite, Willie Mullins’ Facile Vega, to win the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, before thrashing two-mile chasing superstar Jonbon by 18 lengths last year.
“He’s been to Cheltenham twice, won twice and hasn’t come off the bridle twice,” says Barry Connell, the horse’s owner-trainer.
Last time out this term, Marine Nationale’s speed was blunted in a Leopardstown bog at the Dublin Racing Festival, where he was beaten 19 lengths by Majborough, and Barry is hoping for better going at Cheltenham for his stable star.
“I live near Leopardstown and in the last 20 years, I’ve never seen rain like it, the heaviest ground I’ve ever seen up there,” he says.
“We needed to get a run into him, but he didn’t go a yard on that ground. He lost 15 lengths with the mistake he made and it brought him to a standstill. He was never in a rhythm, but he stayed on at the end, and I think you’ll see a different horse in March.
“Two factors will come into play: he loves spring ground and he loves Cheltenham.
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“He’s nine years old and in the prime of his life. Last year we were learning on the job – this year he’s the finished article.”
Garrett Cotter and Marine National doing routine exercise at Boherbaun Stables.
(Image credit: Lorraine O’Sullivan/Jockey Club)
Marine Nationale: gearing up for Cheltenham Festival 2026
H&H visited Barry Connell’s Co Kildare yard in the lead-up to the Festival, where Marine Nationale was just back in work after a short break following his Leopardstown exertions. After a short canter on Barry’s two-furlong deep sand circle, he rolled in his airy box and was then walked round by yard manager Mandy Makepeace to pose for photos.
“He’s an absolute dote to handle, exceptionally well behaved,” says Mandy. “He’s a little excited today as he loves people coming to see him, but you could put a child in here.”
Barry says this temperament – coupled with his natural athleticism – is a winning ingredient.
“He did come alive in the parade last year for the Champion Chase, but while other horses are losing it and sweating, he’s a dude and doesn’t mind where he is,” he says.
“Marine is a special animal, not just one in a lifetime, he’s one in 10,000 lifetimes and we’re just lucky he landed in our yard.
“They say the good horses train themselves, and you just don’t get in their way or do anything stupid.”
It’s a humble assessment of his input from Barry, who is a relative newcomer to the training ranks. He started riding aged 30, took out his amateur jockeys’ licence at 40 – landing two Cheltenham Festival winners in the saddle. Since he started trained only six years ago, he has secured two wins and two placings in five starts at the the Festival.
“I enjoy the whole process,” he says, resting an arm fondly on Marine. “Being down with horses in the early morning, seeing them gallop and just standing with them in the stables.
“It’s addictive once you’ve been bitten by these gorgeous thoroughbreds. There’s an energy that radiates out of these magic creatures.”
Marine Nationale relaxes his stable.
(Image credit: Lorraine O’Sullivan/Jockey Club)
And Marine isn’t the only horse from Barry’s Boherbaun Stables making the trip across the Irish Sea. While his Champion Hurdle hopeful William Munny is temporarily sidelined by a muscle injury, seven-year-old Eachtotheirown will line up for the Supreme Novices’. He was sub-par in November at Fairyhouse, but has since bounced back to win at Thurles on his last start. He has won or been runner-up on all his five runs but one.
“He’ll be a big price, but he’s a good jumper and he’ll definitely be competitive,” says Barry.
Barry Connell is a trainer on form. With only 17 horses in training, he’s not prolific, but when they run, it tends to count. He had two winners from two runners on Valentine’s Day. And while neither of them hold Cheltenham entries this time, it bodes well for Marine Nationale and Eachtotheirown come the Festival.
To read the full article on Barry Connell’s yard visit, pick up a copy of Horse & Hound, 26 February.
Martha is an experienced journalist who is mad-keen on horses and dogs. Her reporting CV includes the Paris Olympics, European championships, Aachen World Equestrian Festival and World Cup finals. After growing up with assorted liver and white springer spaniels, she enjoyed 14 years with two rescue dogs. Now, her constant companion is Fidget, an extremely energetic and habitually muddy black and white springer. Martha has written on topics as diverse as a top horse’s clone to the best GPS trackers for dogs, as well as equestrian and rural matters for Country Life, The Field, The Times, The Spectator and The Telegraph alongside Horse & Hound.
