The Times
10th April 2026
Never think the best days are gone. The top trainers and jockeys duly did their thing at Aintree but the show was stolen by a tiny horse, 6 foot farmer jockey and a trainer who started life as a rag and bone man.
Barton Snow is almost small enough to qualify for pony racing. Henry Crow would not be out of place on basket-ball court and Joe O’Shea doesn’t care a jot for place or person. What they share is a wonderful fusion of talents which has seen the little 9 year old flourish to win all seven races since he joined O’Shea’s Cheshire stable last year culminating in completing the Cheltenham- Aintree Foxhunters double under 25 year old Crow, this the holy grail for amateur riders.
Just in case you think we have been overstuffing the story with characters lets add that Barton Snow was bred in Ireland by 94 year old Thomas Hutton who also produced the 1993 King George VI Chase winner Barton Bank and was a diminutive, smiling if somewhat toothless figure amongst the group of owners led by Steve Allen whose first racing memories were sitting at Towcester while his parents slotted the jockeys names into the numbers boards.
“I did my home work,” Allen said modestly as to what attracted him to a horse whose one success in 19 efforts in Irish point to points and bumpers was in April 2023. He also selected John O’Shea to handle the supposed paragon although the trainer’s first reaction was anything but complimentary. “I rang the owner,” said O’Shea, “and said what is this you have sent me, a whippet.”
A fortnight later the message was rather different. “You will never believe this so I will have to send you a video. This horse could be anything.” So it has proved but it won’t change 69 year old O’Shea’s uninhibited attitude to life which started working with his father as a rag and bone man in Manchester before graduating to training greyhounnds near Wakefield much helped by his first Aintree memory was back in 1976. “I sneaked in,” he said sitting grey sweatered and open necked amongst the tweed suits and country frocks, “and put all my money, which was not a lot, on Rag Trade and in he came at 20-1.”
Three other good jockeys have won on Barton Snow but it is Henry Crow who rides him every morning and whose sang-froid in the saddle is of the fabled Paul Carberry standard maybe not unconnected with having now won on 11 of his last 15 rides.
Yet his is a wholly amateur commitment, fitting racing in around working on barn conversions and running the family farm. “Joe is a wonderful trainer,” he said of O’Shea who saddled him a winner on his first point to point ride as a 16 year old, “and this horse is an absolute star. I just feel so lucky to be here.”
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The rest of the afternoon had its fair share of excellence and excitement with Irish trainers taking three of the four Grade 1 races. Gordon Elliott and his jockey Jack Kennedy won both the Juvenile Hurdle with Mange Tout and the Aintree Hurdle with Brighterdaysahead while Henry De Bromhead took the Manifesto Novices Chase albeit the 1/2 favourite Lulambo managed to jink Nico De Boinville out of the saddle at the 10th. De Boinville had the best answer to any sense of humiliation by getting the sometimes slow jumping Jango Baie into a clear cut victory a race later not hindered by the second last fall of Irish challenger Impair Et Passe.
But we have seen them all before and we will no doubt wonder at them many more times up ahead. Just for this once an even bigger dream arrives. Barton Snow handled a big field and the Grand National fences so effortlessly yesterday that will his colourful connections be able to resist tilting at the big race itself next April? Ladbrokes are offering 40-1. You read it here first.