Barry Connell bullish on Marine Nationale's Dublin Chase claims

January 19, 2026

Barry Connell is bullish as ever on Marine Nationale’s claims at the Dublin Racing Festival.

The owner-trainer simply is not envisaging defeat for the apple of his eye, odds-on to land the Dublin Chase with most firms in just under two weeks’ time.

The nine-year-old made a pleasing return to action in the Paddy’s Rewards Club Chase at Leopardstown over Christmas, beaten only half a length despite making a near disastrous error at the second fence and forfeiting ultimately crucial ground.

Connell is adamant as long as Marine Nationale avoids another one of those, the Grade 1 prize is at his mercy.

“He came out of the race in unbelievable form, he was entitled to be a bit tired given the amount of ground he made up.

“He’s as good as he ever was, better. If he jumps a clear round, that’s all he needs to do.”

The son of French Navy rounded off a stellar campaign in 2024/25 with back-to-back wins in Cheltenham’s Champion Chase and the Punchestown equivalent, cementing his place at the top of the two-mile division.

At Christmas he looked in considerably better order than he did at that point last year, a season that began with three straight defeats including two to Joseph O’Brien’s Solness.

That challenger got the better of him for a third time last month and he’s expected to defend his Dublin Chase crown as the rivalry renews once again.

🗣️”If he jumps a clear round, that’s all he’ll need to do.”

Barry Connell provides updates on Marine Nationale and William Munny ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/8Z0jJMLwXk

— Racing TV (@RacingTV) January 18, 2026

Is there any formidable opposition to Marine Nationale?

Second in the ante-post betting is Willie Mullins’ Majborough, quite the opposite of formidable based on his pair of runs so far this season.

Calamitous jumping errors saw the six-year-old turned over at odds-on in the Hilly Way Chase at Cork which were largely forgiven in the market on his next start in the Paddy’s Rewards Club Chase around a more suitable left-handed track.

Punters kept the faith and Majborough was sent off the 6/4 favourite on the day with Mark Walsh deploying fresh tactics on the six-year-old, taking a lead from Solness and Hercule Du Seuil, and while there was a slight improvement over his obstacles he couldn’t lay a glove on the first two.

Perhaps the most alarming sign of all though was his apparent reluctance to attack a gap that opened between Solness and Marine Nationale up the run-in, one a horse of his talent should have pounced on and attitude concerns are well grounded.

Solness can’t be ruled out and he has proved difficult to reel in when finding rhythm in front but perhaps Henry de Bromhead’s Quilixios could present the biggest danger to the favourite.

He has missed the early part of the season with a small setback but this race was mentioned as a comeback target and De Bromhead knows exactly how to get one ready first time up.

The nine-year-old was running the race of his life in the Champion Chase last year at 40/1, disputing the lead with Marine Nationale at the final fence before taking a tumble.

He paid the price for trying to go with Solness in the early stages of this race 12 months ago but if taking his place this time surely warrants close consideration.