To readers of a certain age, John Joseph ‘Jonjo’ O’Neill requires little or no introduction. Corkonian O’Neill was British Champion National Hunt Jockey twice, in 1977/78 and 1979/1980, and won the Champion Hurdle and Cheltenham Gold Cup twice apiece, famously completing an unprecedented double on the legendary racemare Dawn Run in 1984 and 1986 respectively. As a trainer, since 2001, O’Neill has been based at Jackdaws Castle near Temple Guiting, Gloucestershire, whence he has sent out all bar two of his 27 Cheltenham Festival winners to date, including Synchronised in the 2012 Cheltenham Gold Cup. He also had the distinction of providing Tony McCoy will his one and only Grand National winner, Don’t Push It, owned by John Patrick ‘J.P.’ McManus, in 2010.
Since the start of the 2024/25 National Hunt season, Jonjo O’Neill has shared his training licence with his younger son, Anthony Joseph ‘A.J.’ O’Neill, who was previously his assistant trainer. Before that, A.J. O’Neill had enjoyed a brief, but highly successful, career as amateur rider for the yard. The pair made a bright start to their joint venture, saddling their first winner together, Wilful, in a novices’ hurdle at Hexham on May 4, 2024.
Indeed, 2024/25 was to prove their most successful season so far, yielding 72 winners from 565 runners, at a strike rate of 13%, and £1.23 million in prize money. Their biggest money-spinner in that inaugural season was the ill-fated novice steeplechaser Springwell Bay, who won two of his five starts and over £93,000, but was fatally injured when falling in the Golden Miller Novices’ Chase at the Cheltenham Festival.
The 2025/26 National Hunt proved less successful for the O’Neills, numerically and financially, but their 49 winners nonetheless yielded £1.17 million. Their bottom line was bolstered, in no small part, by two winners at the Cheltenham Festival, namely Johnnywho in the Ultima Handicap Chase and Wilful in the County Handicap Hurdle.
