AJ O’Neill Calls on Netflix to Film Racing Documentary

AJ O’Neill: Netflix need to help horse racing with a documentary, everything in racing needs to be given fair attention to improve the sport, I much prefer training winners than riding winners like I used to and our plans for the Cheltenham Festival

• AJ O’Neill joined his father, trainer Jonjo O’Neill, on his training licence nine months ago having hung up his saddle as a jockey
• O’Neill Junior has said all of racing’s governing bodies need to come together for a common goal of improving the sport which is facing some very strong headwinds
• O’Neill hit out at the media coverage of trainers potentially charging money for interviews on-course, saying the cash would have gone back into the sport and not the trainer’s pockets
• The young trainer revealed he prefers training winners than riding them and also outlined his and Jonjo’s Cheltenham Festival plans in March

O’Neill was speaking to Punters Lounge, who offer the best and up-to-date Cheltenham Festival racecards:

Q: People talk about the headwinds facing British racing – how tough is it in your opinion?

AJ: Every industry has things that it would like to improve. It would just be great to see all of the various organizations continuing to come together to achieve them really. There’s always different adversities to any industry I suppose, just as long as everyone keeps pulling together and trying to tackle them as best possible, I’m sure improvements will come.

Q: Is there one thing in particular that is irksome to you that sort of frustrates you or anything in particular in the sport?

AJ: A lot of the kinds of issues that would be in the media, that people want to see changed within racing, have quite significant knockdown effects. 

There’s a lot of different bodies and a lot of different parties and stakeholders that need to be accounted for. And I think to give priority to one, we’re doing injustice to the others. So, everything needs a fair amount of attention.

Hopefully, everyone can come together and come to a sensible solution that’s mutually beneficial to the world.

I’m definitely not the person with the formula though!

Q: One issue that’s raised its head recently is the suggestion that trainers shouldn’t give post-race interviews unless they’re paid. What’s your take on that?

AJ: No trainer is looking to line his or her own pocket. It is purely to fund the PRA (Professional Racing Association), Peter Savill’s organisation, the sole purpose of which is to increase prize money. Now to fund an organisation that’s designed to increase prize money, I can’t see it as a bad thing. It will likely increase the number of owners coming into the sport. Prize money is something that has been discussed quite a lot in the media.

So it is good for trainers, good for jockeys obviously, it’s good for everyone who works in the industry in terms of stable staff with the pool money, it will benefit breeders. If prize money increases, you would like to see and hopefully should see an increase in the value of horses.

If there are more horses in training and more horses racing as a result of increased prize money it will make racing more competitive, it will make field sizes bigger.

Unfortunately, it appears in the media that trainers were trying to line their pockets which wasn’t and isn’t the case at all.

Increased prize money is mutually beneficial for everyone and especially for the owners who display so much patience. They do put an awful lot of money into training and without them none of it would be possible. So it would be great to see them you know have increased compensation for winning

Q: We’ve seen many sports embracing sort of behind the scenes warts and all documentaries, access driven, Formula One: Drive to Survive, Six Nations: Full Contact, and full gallop. What’s your take on that sort of thing? They can only be positive surely?

AJ: 100%, I completely agree. To illustrate the level of hard work and care and all of the positive aspects of the industry to a wider scale is a great idea. These documentaries probably aren’t really aimed towards those in the industry and that I think is correct as an idea. I really enjoyed the F1 series. I hope that people from the outside looking in can feel the same way about racing and hopefully look to get involved.

Q: It’s been almost nine months since you joined your father on the license? How’s life treating you as a trainer?

AJ: I am really enjoying it. I suppose, like any sport, it has its ups and downs, but I am in a very fortunate position to be able to join the licence alongside Dad and really enjoy it.

Was it inevitable that was the path you would take?

AJ: I suppose it was. I was always very interested in the training side of it all. It’s fortunate that Dad’s very open to new ideas and kind of sharing the license and hopefully sharing some of the joys.

Q: Riding a winner or training a winner – which brings the most joy?

AJ: As a trainer.

There’s nothing to replace the physical stimulation or achievement of riding and you know that that buzz is something special, but I still get the same buzz and kick out of being part of training a winner I suppose with just the recognition of everything that happened at home to get there. And you know, it’s kind of, I suppose, more of a slow burning fulfillment.

But I was very, very fortunate to ride some lovely horses and lovely people as well and didn’t get an amazing kick out of that.

Q: Cheltenham is coming up in five weeks’ time. Do you still see it as the pinnacle of sport?

AJ: Growing up locally and with Dad having previous successes both as a jockey and a trainer there, it’s something that always you hold close to the heart.

But it’s certainly not the be all and end all of any horse’s season. There’s lots of other good racing elsewhere but it’s always fantastic to be able to try and compete on a stage like Cheltenham. 

Q: Irish racing – it has a very strong beating heart doesn’t it?

AJ: Definitely. It’s a pleasure to watch good racing anywhere. There is a lot of good racing over that side of the sea at the moment.

Q: Your Cheltenham potentials? Springwell Bay, he won on New Year’s Day, All The Glory, Bill Joyce, are those your three main contenders or are there others that are tucked away, ready to be released?

AJ: Springwell Bay ran a lovely race New Year’s Day at Cheltenham, very pleasing with the way that he won. We’ll make a few different entries for him and keep a close eye, but he is certainly an exciting horse.

Q: One for the Arkle?

AJ: Possibly also in the Brown Advisory or the Ryanair. We’ll see where we think’s most suitable closer to the time.

Q: All The Glory – Mares’ Hurdle?

AJ: Possibly. But she may have looked a little bit out of her depth at Ascot when running in the Grade Two there. But then she ran a lovely race at Musselburgh over the weekend to be fair to her.

Q: Bill Joyce?

AJ: He’s a lovely horse. He was one of the ones which I was fortunate enough to ride in my riding career.

Again, he has a couple of options. He hasn’t run over three miles yet. We’ve stuck to two and a half of him so far in his hurdling career, but I don’t think that three miles will be a problem to him. I think he also jumps and stays, and he’ll probably be better again over fences in the future.

Q: Is there anyone we’ve overlooked?

AJ: Maybe Peaky Boy. We only bought him a couple of weeks ago out of Nicky Henderson’s yard. He’s entered in the Brown Advisory, but we’ll probably also have a look at the Turners, that’s now the handicap. We might have a look at that for him.

His last four runs were at Cheltenham, he won three of them. We have just got to see if he can do it in March.