John McConnell is excited to welcome members of the public to see stable favourites Seddon and Kinbara as he opens his yard in the latest trainer open day, writes Tom Masters. 

McConnell is expecting between 250 and 300 visitors to his County Meath yard on Saturday, where they will have the opportunity to see the Cheltenham hero in action behind the scenes, as well as other yard stars such as Encanto Bruno. 

Jockeys Ben Harvey, Simon Torrens and Siobhan Rutledge will also be present for the public to see on the gallops, as well as asking them and McConnell any questions about their work on a day-to-day basis on the yard. 

McConnell said: “I’m really looking forward to Saturday, hopefully the weather isn't too bad! 

“There is going to be plenty of activity around the place, so it will take a bit of organisation, but it should run smoothly enough. 

“I’ll probably introduce everyone to the human team that we have, including some of the jockeys like Simon Torrens, Ben Harvey, Siobhan Rutledge and then we'll probably ride out for them. 

“That will probably include some schooling and maybe some stalls work and there'll be a simulator, a simulator demonstration and some demos by our farriers and our physios as well before a parade of some of the horses too. 

“So it is a bit of everything, it's nice to let people in that might get a chance to see the behind the scenes stuff and obviously there's potential maybe for new people to come in and get involved - so I think it's good for the public and it's potentially good for us as well.” 

Seddon rose to serious prominence when storming to Magners Plate glory at the Cheltenham Festival, while Kinbara showed his serious potential with an 18-length victory at Cartmel last weekend. 

McConnell now has big plans for the pair this year, including an exciting trip over the pond. 

“Kinbara was entitled to win there but we're very happy with him, there's a lot of untapped potential and I think in a better race, we'll see him in a better light, so I am really looking forward to open him up in grade races,” he said. 

“I'll probably go for the American Grand National with Seddon, so that's exciting, Encanto Bruno and Kinbara, among others, are lovely novice hurdlers and Mahler Mission was unlucky at Cheltenham, so we can't wait to get him back on the track as well, then there are lots of young horses – so it is a hugely exciting time. 

“I really just try and get as many winners as we can and get as much out of each horse we can. 

“We've a really nice bunch of jump horses now, so hopefully we can guide them along their paths. 

“I don't really have specific targets but I suppose the Grade One will be one that I'll be looking to hit at some point, we've had everything else, but we haven't had a Grade One win, so it'd be very nice."

It's good for the public and it's potentially good for us as well.

- John McConnell on his upcoming open morning