'I can't walk away' - trainer who pulled off rare Cheltenham and Aintree double U-turns on retirement

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Hunter chase king Joe O'Shea, who pulled off a rare double at the Cheltenham Festival and Aintree's Grand National meeting with the hugely exciting Barton Snow, has made a U-turn and will continue his training career.

Following his Cheltenham success in March, O'Shea signalled his intention to stop at the end of last season, citing heart issues, but Barton Snow won again at Aintree and the trainer unleashed the highly touted Boley Bob, whom he described as "even better than Barton Snow" before his rules debut victory at Kelso at the end of April.

With so much to look forward to, O'Shea has had a rethink, saying: "How can I walk away? I can't. The thought of Boley Bob and Barton Snow leaving me is killing me, even more than what my chest is.

"Once you leave me, it's like leaving Old Trafford – you're on your way down. I'm the best, in my opinion. I've got to believe in myself. The owners have been supportive and never questioned it – they knew I'd never walk away from it."

O'Shea, 68, handed over control of his Cheshire yard three years ago to his then assistant Hannah Roach, but resumed training after she was disqualified for 32 weeks over a drug-related rule breach.

He is already making plans for the 2026-27 season for his two stable stars, who have been the subject of multiple offers, and the rest of the team, with the focus centred on quality.

"They're all out in the field now and we'll definitely be back on September 1," he said. "We've made a list and have 13 horses, and they're all elite point-to-pointers. I could have had 33 horses as success breeds success, but we've got 13 stables and we're keeping it as we are and I'm happy with that."

O'Shea, who has had a quadruple heart bypass, added: "This coming season is 100 per cent going to be my last, and there will be no ifs or buts. I've been to the doctors and the consultant and, having worked 14 hours a day, seven days a week, I've got to stop."

Henry Crow and Barton Snow after the Hunters' Chase

Henry Crow celebrates Barton Snow's victory at CheltenhamCredit: Andrew Parker (Grossick Photography)

Barton Snow has proved a revelation by winning his last eight races and becoming the first hunter chaser since On The Fringe in 2016 to do the big spring festival double under Henry Crow.

There had been hopes the MMI Partnership-owned nine-year-old might try to emulate the likes of Spartan Missile, Cool Dawn and Rushing Wild by going on to run in the top chases, but a decision has been made to stick to what he knows.

"We'll follow a similar route to last season, with the exception of running at Haydock [in the Walrus Hunters' Chase], which is a race I've won four times before," said O'Shea.

"He'll start in a point where there's good ground in late November to December, and then probably go back to Ludlow again. Then it will be Haydock before Cheltenham and Aintree again.

"There's only one horse in the country who can make him take his coat off and that's Boley Bob. It's the same owners and they've got the same plan, but maybe not Aintree as he's still a bit young [aged six]."

O'Shea, whose victory in the Foxhunters' at Aintree was his third in the last six runnings of the race, racked up some impressive figures last season, with a 50 per cent strike-rate in hunter chases (9-18), and total prize-money of just shy of £85,000.

He was prevented from adding to that haul when Cheltenham's hunter chase evening was one of three racedays cancelled at the course to enable drainage work to take place, and then the point-to-point season finale at Stratford was scrapped amid equine flu fears.

"We'd been up and down the country all season making sure Boley Bob qualified for one of the finals at Cheltenham, knowing he was a certainty, and then it was moved to Warwick, which wasn't the track for him," said O'Shea.

"Then they cancelled the other finals at Stratford – it was all such bad news for us and the owners."

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