Welcome along to the Final Fallen podcast. It is great to have your company and great to have the company of a man who's making his debut on the show and has been tearing it up with winners left right in center, including a Cheltenham Festival winner earlier this year. John McConnell, welcome to the show.

I'm good, thank God. Not as good as yourself. It's been a great time. You've saddled 21 winners in Ireland last year. You're already on 15, so you're well on track to beat that.

Now that we're back into the jumps and the jumps is properly back. How are things going at the art?

Yeah, they're going fine in it. We're tipping along nicely. Some of the nice horses are...

I've already won in summer. Some more Mexico mausher and... Yeah, I mean, I haven't really got a bad season, but that's no more. We just haven't had the ammo really, so...

No, I think we're going to look forward to the winter.

If I could take you back to March, for a second, your first Cheltenham Festival winner with Sen, who was only narrowly beaten over hurdles the other day by Willie Mullins Winterfog.

You did me a big favor that day because I put them up on talk sport, but what was that feeling like for you?

It was a bit strange, we honest. You know, it was a childhood dream. I suppose. I always knew I wasn't going to be a jockey. It was too heavy to be a jockey.

So, for my long time, I wanted to train, and Cheltenham is where he wanted to be. So, yeah, unbelievable, really.

Still now what I think about is, you know, so happy and I'm proud, you know?

Yeah, I'd imagine it is a remarkably special feeling. Does it leave you with a hunger to get back there and have more success?

That definitely goes. I mean, every minute does, but I suppose especially a Cheltenham winner, but I mean, I know how hard it is to do that.

So, I'm not going to dwell on it if I don't get back there ever or if I don't get back there for a few years or whatever, but I certainly want to.

But, you know, I did appreciate just how big it was at the time.

And I remember talking to people and asking me was as good as I thought and it was better, you know?

So, it was, yeah, really, really special and hopefully we can get back there.

And what is the latest with him after his run behind Winterfog the other day?

He committed a race very well, yeah. He's literally, as I'm talking to you, he's literally landed in New York.

And he's gone to quarantine for a couple of days.

So, we're the American Grand National Saturday week and we had our tour ahead and excellent.

And so, hopefully, you know, I suppose the most important thing is that he's traveled OK and that we get him there in one piece and happy with him and then we'll be able to be able to create adventure anyway.

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