VICTOR Connolly says he has been moved by the supportive messages he has received following the unfortunate death of leading National Hunt stallion Jukebox Jury this week at Burgage Stud in Leighlinbridge, Co Carlow.

The 19-year-old grey horse was euthanised due to complications following a colic operation. He was arguably at the peak of his powers, having been represented last season by Grade 1 winners Il Etait Temps, Honesty Policy and Bambino Fever.

Connolly said: “We would like to thank the shareholders and breeders who supported Jukebox Jury, especially those who supported him early in his Irish stud career.

“It is gratifying that so many people messaged to express their admiration and appreciation of Jukebox Jury himself. Breeders and non- breeders showed their goodwill for his loss. Stallion men understand the work involved in establishing a successful sire and many were equally magnanimous.

“Apart from his ability as a top sire, Jukebox Jury will be remembered at Burgage as a kind and intelligent horse and that’s the part we will miss most.”

Relapse

Reflecting on the circumstances which claimed the stallion’s life, Connolly said: “He showed signs of colic and was sent to the hospital where he was operated on. He was doing fine but then, a week later, he got this relapse.

“That was last Monday and then it was pretty much downhill. If they get a relapse you can’t really operate again. The colic was caught in time and he received the best care. He just ran out of luck.

“Up to then he had been a really lucky horse for everybody, every day of his life. He did well for his breeder, his trainer, his owner and he gave us some great days too.

“Mark Johnston has been quoted many times that he loved this horse, and I can see why, because he was a lovely, lovely character, and very willing.

“He was just a lovely, trusting horse and no badness in him. He just wanted to please and not every stallion is like that. If he was a human being, you’d love him because he was just so dependable.”

Burgage Stud has been home to a couple of other star jumps stallions in Bob Back and Shantou. Connolly rates Jukebox Jury in that class.

“He had a Group 1 winner on the flat, and he had Grade 1 winners over hurdles and fences. Both Bob Back and Shantou also had the class to sire horses at Group 1 level on the flat, and their progeny had the stamina and hardiness to do it over jumps too.”

“They were both retired when they died so it was natural. This has been different. Jukebox Jury was a bright light that burned out too quickly. But let’s just say I couldn’t be more grateful that they were here. There’s no other way of putting it, because things have to go your way.”

German import

Connolly imported Jukebox Jury from Germany in 2017. His first crop were just three-year-olds and showing enough promise on the flat to suggest he was worth taking a chance on as a National Hunt stallion.

“He could have gone either way, you know,” Connolly recalls. “Trainers loved his stock, loved their attitude. The horse wasn’t for sale initially and then he came available. Luckily we had a syndicate ready to buy him.

“He came here in December 2017 and that Christmas his son Farclas almost won the big juvenile hurdle at Leopardstown. He went on to win the Triumph Hurdle that season.

“His success as a stallion was organic. Trainers told agents they liked the sire and he became more popular because of his results on the track and then in the sales ring. He wasn’t fashionable early on, and he became that way because of what he achieved. And I think that’s the right way to do it.

“He gave us some incredible days. That’s all I can say. He gave us some absolutely incredible days that you just couldn’t better.”

News of Jukebox Jury’s death came as a shock to everyone, so how did it impact on the stallion master?

“It’s not just me, but it’s the most awful feeling when it’s a horse whose success you’ve been a part of.

“When the horse got sick, I felt this emptiness, like you’d been beaten up in a boxing ring.

“You’re trying to keep going, but you know that this isn’t good. You’re hoping that things will turn. It’s been a really horrible 10 days because you don’t know what’s going to happen and you know the stakes are high. Everyone’s doing the best they can to save the situation, but it’s out of your control.

“It’s not about the money. Other stallion men know all about how difficult it is to establish a horse, to get a horse that’s successful, and then to bring him on up through the grades to a point where everybody wants them. They know how elusive, how difficult that is.

“And many of them messaged and called me. I appreciated that they could empathise with our loss. They understand it.

“It was good that people respected what the horse had done for the racing and breeding industry.”

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