Barry Connell doesn’t do things by half. The former stockbroker who never sat on a horse until he was 30 has built a state-of-the-art yard at Boherbaun, complete with open barns designed around airflow and horse welfare. At the centre of it all stands Marine Nationale — two-time Cheltenham Festival winner and the horse whose Champion Chase victory last March carried an emotional weight that went far beyond racing.
That 18-length romp at Prestbury Park came just weeks after the tragic death of Michael O’Sullivan, the jockey who’d been instrumental in Marine Nationale’s early career. It was a day nobody at Cheltenham will forget in a hurry.
But defending that crown just got significantly harder.
The Dublin Chase Demolition
At Leopardstown on February 1st, Willie Mullins’ Majborough put Marine Nationale firmly in his place. Sent off the 5/4 favourite, Connell’s horse was beaten 19 lengths into second — almost exactly the same margin by which he’d won the Champion Chase twelve months earlier.
It was a comprehensive defeat, and it wasn’t a one-off wobble. Marine Nationale’s season has been a story of near-misses: second to Solness (beaten half a length) at Leopardstown over Christmas, and now well held by a younger horse clearly on the upgrade.
The Numbers Don’t Lie
Marine Nationale’s form figures this season read 2-2 from two starts, both at Grade 1 level. Compare that to last season: he won the Champion Chase and the Punchestown Champion Chase by a combined 25 lengths. The six-year-old who demolished Jonbon at Cheltenham looks a different proposition right now.
Majborough, meanwhile, is building an imposing CV. The Triumph Hurdle winner from 2024 has taken to fences like a natural. His chase record from SmartForm reads: four Grade 1 entries, two wins (including that Dublin Chase by 19 lengths), and he’s clearly still improving. At Cheltenham last year he finished third in the Arkle — twelve months on, he looks like a genuine Champion Chase contender.
Here’s the stat that should worry Connell: no horse has won the Champion Chase off the back of two consecutive defeats since the race became the undisputed two-mile championship. Marine Nationale needs to reverse recent form, and reverse it dramatically.
Connell’s Case for Optimism
Yet writing off Marine Nationale would be foolish. This is a horse who won the 2025 Champion Chase at 5/1 after a troubled passage — he wasn’t fluent at the third, lost ground, and still powered clear after the last. His in-running comment from that day tells you everything about his raw ability: “challenged going well after 3 out, led narrowly when left well clear last, stayed on well.”
Connell told Sporting Life this week that he’s relishing the rematch. The trainer pointed to Marine Nationale’s Cheltenham record — two visits, two wins (the 2023 Supreme and 2025 Champion Chase) — as evidence that his horse saves his best for the big stage.
There’s also the trip and track question. Leopardstown’s flat, galloping circuit arguably favours Majborough’s long stride. Cheltenham’s undulations, the hill, the atmosphere — that’s where Marine Nationale has thrived. The switch back to left-handed could make a difference.
The Verdict
The Dublin Chase form is hard to ignore. Nineteen lengths is nineteen lengths, and Majborough looked every inch a horse heading for the top. But Cheltenham has a habit of rewriting scripts, and Marine Nationale has a habit of delivering when it matters most.
At current ante-post prices, this rematch could define the 2026 Festival. The data says Majborough; the heart says Marine Nationale. One of the great Champion Chase showdowns is brewing.