NO race does historic firsts quite like the Grand National, and it’s certainly not impossible that there could be another chapter for the record books if Oscars Brother raises the roof at Aintree next month.
No pair of brothers have combined to ride and train the winner of the world’s most famous race in modern history. In fact, it’s believed that not since 1884 winner Voluptuary, ridden by Ted Wilson and trained by his brother William, has the feat been achieved.
What a coup it would be then, for Co Cork brothers Connor and Dan King to enter that special territory in the Randox-backed highlight on April 11th. Especially after what has already been a season to savour with their family flagbearer.
An illustration of just how different racing was back when the last sibling success was achieved can be gleaned from the two pieces of history Voluptuary himself managed to record that year. Extraordinarily, he is the only Royal Ascot winner to have won the Grand National. He had a smart three-year-old flat campaign that saw him capture the Dee Stakes at Chester and finish sixth in the 1981 Derby at Epsom.
To top it all off, Voluptuary is the last horse to win the Grand National on his debut over fences. Imagine the thought of a horse even being allowed to attempt such a campaign now!
While not as dramatic, Oscars Brother, in his own way, has come the road less travelled to Aintree. Purchased as a three-year-old for the modest sum of €8,000 by Connor and Dan’s father Richard, he was beaten in his first three point-to-points, and on his maiden hurdle bow as a six-year-old.
He has more than made up for that since. Progressive as a listed-winning novice hurdler, he has scaled new heights entirely having been sent chasing. A swashbuckling success in the Grade 2 Florida Pearl Novice Chase in November sparked a private purchase from J.P. McManus - a deal that kept him under the care of Connor - and he quickly rewarded that faith when bolting up in the Grade 2 Ten Up Novice Chase at Navan.
Following an eye-catching fourth in the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase at Cheltenham a fortnight ago, King has revealed this week that it is now all systems go for a crack at the £1 million Liverpool feature. Oscars Brother’s odds range from just 12/1 to 16/1, making it truly dream territory for his 29-year-old trainer, who has just two runners in his care for the track.
“It’s unbelievable to have a horse like him with his type of rating - it’s mad,” says King. He will also notably become the youngest winning trainer in Grand National history, if making the breakthrough next month.
“He had an entry in the Irish Grand National up until this week, and - as everyone has been saying to me - it’s been a lovely problem to have. We obviously spoke with Frank [Berry, racing manager to McManus] and the thinking behind going for Aintree is partially with the weights in mind [due to run off 10st 13lb].
“I know he’s a bit higher in England than Ireland in terms of his mark, but some of the top-rated horses came out of the Irish National this week and it was simple enough, really. You’d like to think that having had a good experience of travelling to Cheltenham for a competitive race, which was run at a good pace, should stand to him for Aintree.”
He adds: “To be honest, I’m trying not to think too much about what it means to be going over there with one for the National - I don’t want to get too carried away! It’s just nice to be travelling with some sort of chance in a competitive race. We’re all really looking forward to it.”
Fine placement
King, who first introduced himself in racing as one of the brightest young flat riders in the business back in the early 2010s, has placed his stable star with maturity beyond his years this season. And, after a decent campaign over hurdles last term, it’s hardly surprising that there had been interest expressed from parties other than McManus to buy the eight-year-old out of his yard, even before he’d ever won over fences. The family syndicate, which includes the brothers’ father and aunt, were bold and decided not to sell; keen to see where the journey might take them.
After watching a field of just three Gigginstown-owned, Gordon Elliott-trained runners in the previous year’s Florida Pearl Chase, King was intent on targeting the same race for the best part of a year. That long-held plan was executed to a tee.
“I remember at that time, we felt there was still loads left in the horse,” he says of that period.
“I suppose the fact he backed it up and won the races we were holding onto him for justified us keeping him. At the time, it was hard. When the programme for those good races comes out, though, you’re looking at how you can map out a plan and the timing always just seemed to work out nicely for this horse.
“It doesn’t always go that way, but it was always our plan to build and build with him. Seeing what he’s done gives you a bit of confidence going forward.”
Having debuted over fences behind subsequent Galway Plate winner Western Fold at Tipperary last May - and been on the go since filling the same spot at the Listowel Harvest Festival in September - how does the 155-rated chaser feel heading into his seventh, and biggest, start of the season?
“He’s in great form,” says King. “In fairness to him, he loves what he does every day. When a horse loves their job, that makes it easy.
“My dad minded him like a baby for his first few years - he didn’t run ‘til halfway through his five-year-old season and I definitely think that’s a benefit to him now. He wasn’t tried hard as a four-year-old.”
What Oscars Brother’s last start at Cheltenham also demonstrated was major versatility regarding his ability to cope with different types of ground. Having thrived on heavy at Navan in the Ten Up, he clocked a faster closing sectional than the first two home, Kitzbuhel and Final Demand, through the final half mile of the Brown Advisory on good to soft. That is clearly no negative for the demands of what’s upcoming at Aintree.
“We’re lucky that he’s a good size and he’s athletic enough to cope with different conditions,” says King.
“I walked the track at Cheltenham before racing on Tuesday and actually did it again after racing the same day with Dan. I kind of knew it was real genuine good ground. They were calling it good to soft, but I couldn’t see any of what they were calling soft in it.
“Looking at the forecast, there was a bit of rain due on the Tuesday night, but whatever tiny bit we got, it didn’t make any real difference. I think he goes on any ground, but a bit of juice helps him.”
Managing roles
King’s other horse in training, novice hurdler Grey Jude, has also got on the scoresheet this season at the family’s local track at Cork, and is yet to finish out of the money. He looks set to ensure another representative for the yard at a marquee meeting this spring, being targeted at the Connolly’s Red Mills Irish EBF Auction Final at the Punchestown Festival.
Impressively, all of this season’s work has been done while King is still riding out for Paddy Twomey, who is based in Golden, Co Tipperary - 10 minutes up the road from the yard that the former two-time champion apprentice is renting.
Having had success with such a compact string, the obvious question is how big his ambition is to grow the operation?
“I suppose I started off with one horse and I thought if I could train one winner, that’d be my aim and I’d be happy to build on it,” King explains, in his naturally understated and modest manner.
“At the start of this season, I had two horses, and, in my head, I was thinking of maybe getting two winners. That’s kind of been the way I’ve looked at things, and I’d imagine next season could be something similar. Maybe one or two more horses, but I’d be keeping our numbers small, at four or less for the time being. The fact that I can do the horses 100% every day, I like that.
“I’d rather it that way for the moment. In the future, I’d love to be training more and competing every day. I’d love to do that, but I know well how hard it is.”
King, a native of Kilbrin, isn’t exactly a stranger to making a flying start at a young age in racing. After a fruitful spell in the pony racing ranks, he burst onto the track scene as a teenager with a winning first ride at Leopardstown in the Michael Tabor colours for David Wachman in 2012.
He won his first apprentice championship 12 months later, a season that saw him ride 38 winners - including a memorable 14,725/1 four-timer at his local track that August.
“They were brilliant times,” says King, who also lifted the apprentice title in 2015. “I went from doing the pony racing right up until starting on the track, and that was a massive help to me.
“I’d have been riding in 10 races a day sometimes in pony racing, so it felt like an extension of that. The funny thing was going to racetracks for the first time and having winners there. It was unbelievable, to be honest. I kind of felt like I was dreaming at the time. I enjoyed that period so much.
“I maybe found it hard in that I was young at the time my weight came against me [being naturally tall for a jockey], and I could have improved and learned more if I had the chance to ride on the flat for longer. I probably feel like I could have got better and better. But, I was lucky to get a good run at it while I did.”
Weight acceptance
King did manage to visit the winner’s enclosure 10 times under National Hunt rules in Britain, and twice in Ireland, after being shoehorned towards the jumping code due to his weight. Given the level of success he achieved at a young age on the flat, perhaps it would have been viewed as a surprise that he didn’t catch fire more as a jump jockey.
“I’m not sure, but it’s a completely different type of racing to the flat,” King says matter of factly.
“From the age of 15 to 22, I probably missed out, in that I didn’t jump a horse. When I see Dan having done all his jumping from right the way along - as well as being naturally very good at it - that probably wasn’t a help to me to miss out on that experience. As well as that, you’re thrown into the deep end without a claim after you’ve ridden that number of winners on the flat. I think that’s hard when it’s a totally different discipline.
“When people have the choice of who they’re going to use; someone who has ridden 300 winners over hurdles and fences, or someone coming from off the flat… If neither has a claim, it’s fully understandable what way they go.”
Outwardly, at least, it seems as though this latest chapter in King’s racing life might be where he is finding real satisfaction in a long-term calling as a trainer. How did he find the period in between his riding career winding down and his training career beginning, right in the middle of his 20s?
“It was probably hard. For a few years, I didn’t really know exactly what I wanted to do. I always had it in my head that I would like to train - and now I’ve had the opportunity to do it - but it’s definitely difficult. You put everything into riding and that’s all you want to do. Then there came a stage where I accepted I was happy with what I’d done.
“Now, I’d like to have done more over jumps. Obviously the flat ended for me because of the weight. When I saw Dan riding over jumps and how good he was, I was happy that I had my bit done there.
“It’s a hard thing to let go of. It took me a while to get my head around it, but I’m happy now. When you get a taste for what it’s like with the training, you always want more. And I do love what I’m doing.”
King clearly takes a lot of pride in seeing his younger brother playing such a part in the Oscars Brother story, and following the overall trajectory of his riding career.
“He’s had a really good season - and it’s probably his first without a claim,” says Connor.
“He could easily have had a handful of winners in a year like that, but I think he’s had 33 winners in Ireland [and another in Britain]. It’s brilliant going and hopefully he can keep building on it. He’s not attached to any of the big stables, and that makes it more impressive, I think. Sometimes I forget how young Dan is too - he’s only 21.”
How did the potential history-making brothers get on together growing up?
“We’d have been close enough. Dan and [our brother] Rory used to always come to the pony racing. I’d say in the last couple of years we’ve got closer. When you get into your 20s, you probably get that way, don’t you?
“Really, I’d say the journey with this horse has been great for our whole family. We’ve had some great days at Mallow, and everyone was over at Cheltenham when he got into the first four. I’m happy for them to be enjoying this after all they’ve done for all of us when we were younger. They really helped us along.”
What’s more, it would be no surprise if Connor’s story with Oscars Brother gives encouragement to the next generation of horse people that age is no barrier to making an impact at the highest level of the sport. Juggling multiple jobs takes obvious effort and discipline, but he is proof it can be done.
“I suppose it shows that it mightn’t be impossible anyway,” King says.
“You can have a chance at it without having massive facilities. If you want something, you can have a go at making it happen.”
There would be no better stage than Aintree to have that message ring true. Making National history - right alongside his family - might just be the ultimate icing on the cake.
The biggest influence on how he trains
“Paddy Twomey has been brilliant to me. I’ve learned so much from working there; he’s just a serious operator. What he brings to the table as a trainer is really high standards. The horses get so well looked after and it’s a great routine. It always feels like he’s two steps ahead. One thing I’ll say is that he gets stuff done. You might be in other places and they’d say ‘we must do this’ or ‘we must do that’ - Paddy makes a plan and just does it.
“You can see how hard he works everywhere, and that’s very obvious at the sales too. Horses aren’t just given to you, even with how well he’s done. He works for everything that he has. I think that’s how everything has gone, too. People have been asking me ‘are you getting calls from owners to send you horses’ and I just don’t think training works like that. I feel you’ve got to get out there and literally earn it, don’t you?”
The breeze-up sales
“I have one horse for this year, a filly by Havana Grey who will head to Fairyhouse [for the Tattersalls Ireland Breeze Up Sale in May]. I got her in the Tattersalls December Yearling Sale [for 30,000gns], just after the Florida Pearl. I keep her well away from Oscars Brother!
“I still have plenty of time with her before the sale, but she does everything well. I’m very happy with her. I’ve been doing the breeze-ups for the last three or four years. It’s been good, it’s been tough, and I feel like I’ve learned a good bit doing it.”