O'Loughlin targeting Irish Arkle with Jeannot Lapin
The 150/1 Christmas Festival winner is gearing up for a return to Leopardstown
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Jeannot Lapin with connections after a famous Christmas Festival win at Leopardstown
Gearoid O’Loughlin is targeting the Irish Arkle with Christmas Festival hero Jeannot Lapin as the trainer bids to spring another Leopardstown surprise.
The six-year-old provided one of the stories of the festive period by winning the Paddy Power From The Horses Mouth Podcast Beginners Chase having set off at 150/1 under jockey Ricky Doyle.
O’Loughlin weighed up a trip over the Irish Sea to Windsor for his next jaunt but has opted to instead focus on the prestigious Grade 1 showpiece on February 1, the opening day of the Dublin Racing Festival.
“There are nine entries in the Arkle, so you could have six or seven runners in it,” he said.
“It’s on our doorstep and we know he likes the track. We have a decision to make but we are not going to put ourselves under too much pressure.
“I have patience to burn when it comes to horses. We are realists, we know we shouldn’t have a runner in the Arkle but at the same time we wouldn’t back down and we will enjoy the day.
“We knew at Christmas that he was good enough to be there off his work and he would be in the frame with a clear run of jumping, his price didn’t throw us off at all.
“Having dealt with horses over the years, you know when you get a good one. It’s not rocket science.”
O’Loughlin bought Jeannot Lapin for just €3,000 and hailed owner Dominic Jones for taking a chance on a horse whose size and pedigree stood out to the trainer at the sales.
Jones is no stranger to upsetting the odds, having also owned Sawbuck, who triumphed at 300/1 at Punchestown in May 2022 to make history as the longest-priced winner in the history of jumps racing.
“He has such a positive outlook in everything, such a great attitude and is willing to take a chance and see how it works out,” O’Loughlin said.
“You are always going to succeed when you have people like that with a positive attitude.
“We are not expecting anything of him, even if he could be a freak, but what he did for him at Leopardstown was brilliant and gave a real boost to the whole yard.”
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Jeannot Lapin is one of only a handful of track horses at O’Loughlin’s Wexford operation, which primarily focuses on buying in promising young horses for point-to-points and selling them on.
Act Of Innocence – third at 80/1 in last April’s Goffs Defender Bumper at Punchestown – was recently snapped up by Paul Nicholls while more recently, the trainer has begun pre-training flat horses for his good friend Jack Davison.
She’s Quality, Betsen and Bucaneer’s Spirit are among those to have come through O’Loughlin’s tight-knit yard which sees his partner Rebecca Traynor play a key role.
“I wouldn’t be at it without her, she is the drive behind me,” he said.
“She is such a motivator, she is brilliant. She is such a hard worker and it’s unreal the work she puts in throughout the day.
“It’s a tough old game at times but we try our best and she gives 100 per cent every day. It can be difficult at times but we are certainly enjoying it at the moment.”