‘Absolute natural’ Marine Nationale in cruise control on fencing debut Marine Nationale maintained his unbeaten record with a near foot-perfect display on his debut over fences at Leopardstown. Owned and trained by Barry Connell, the six-year-old won each of his two bumper starts and was three from three over hurdles last season, culminating in a brilliant victory in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival in March. Encountering larger obstacles for the first time, having sidestepped a potential engagement at Navan last month on account of testing conditions, Marine Nationale was a 1-2 shot for the Paddy Power From The Horses Mouth Podcast Beginners Chase and those who took the cramped odds will have had few concerns for the duration of the two-mile-one-furlong contest. Michael O’Sullivan’s mount raced zestfully on the front end from the drop of the flag and was particularly impressive in the jumping department. The market leader was still hard on the bridle turning for home and another bold leap at the final obstacle put the seal on a comfortable eight-and-a-half-length victory over Firm Footings. Paddy Power and Betfair were suitably impressed by the winner’s performance, trimming his odds for the Arkle at Cheltenham to 4-5 from 7-4, while Coral are marginally bigger at evens. “I didn’t enjoy watching it at all. Last year we were coming in under the radar and this year we are favourite for the Arkle and expected to win,” said Connell. “It’s a horse race and anything can go wrong, but the way he jumped today he’s vindicated what we have seen from his schooling – he’s an absolute natural. “He’s only three-quarters fit today and Michael said he gave a little bit of a blow. He was a little gassy early on, but you couldn’t ask for any more than that. “The ground is described as soft, but there is a bottom to it. He goes on every ground, but probably wouldn’t like heavy ground. He’s just class with a super engine.” Marine Nationale looks set to return to Leopardstown for the Dublin Racing Festival before returning to Cheltenham in March. Connell added: “He’ll come back here for the Irish Arkle, then the Arkle and hopefully on to Punchestown. The script writes itself this year. “He’s the horse of a lifetime and I’m just blessed that he came into our yard. They are one in 10,000 these horses. “He’s taken a bit longer this year to get fit than last year as he had a proper break for 10 weeks, but he’s a tall, athletic horse and comes to hand quick enough. “If you look at the list of Supreme Novices’ Hurdle winners, there are plenty that just didn’t train on and that was an added pressure. “He had a little wind operation before he went out at the end of last season and we put a tongue strap on him today. We just thought it might improve him a bit.”
