A New Dawn
Warm wishes to you all!
As you would have hopefully seen by now, we have been extremely busy over the summer getting ready for the new season ahead and creating a new brand – O’Neill Racing.
Our mission statement for all our stakeholders remains the exact same as before. We have always been a family business (now symbolised by our new emblem) striving for the best results for the horses in our care, our owners and employees alike. We created a new brand and a new name to reflect our joint names on the training licence and our ambition for further growth and success for the seasons ahead.
It has been a really fun month here at Jackdaws Castle, celebrating the launch of the new brand with our owners. We are so grateful for everyone’s support and have shared some of the many memories of the celebrations over the past few weeks in the video clips and photos further on in this newsletter.
Along with the new brand and logo, we also have a spanking-new website (which this newsletter is being sent on!) which was designed by the brilliant team at Steve Edge Design and went live this month. You can visit us on www.oneill.racing as well as all our other social media platforms.
When you’re having a rebrand, it’s more than just a new logo and website. The whole team are kitted out in lovely new clothing (inspired by the Sea Pigeon winning colours!), our lorries have had a fresh makeover and all the signs, stationary and, most importantly, dog jackets feature the new branding! We cannot thank our wonderful friends Martin and Iwona Tedham enough for their support throughout this transition.
We timed the new launch with the opening meeting of the new season at Chepstow, and it was brilliant to see Springwell Bay win impressively on his chasing debut.
Since then, Roadlesstravelled made a stylish, winning start to his career under rules. Circuit Breaker ran out an emphatic 16-length winner at Kempton. Johnnywho made an eye-catching start over fences at Carlisle. We’re Red And Blue, Stay If U Want To, Diamond Dice, Koukeo and Country Park all ran pleasing races to place.
As we write this, the start of the season at Cheltenham Racecourse is now underway which is always an exciting time of year. I’m sure many of our owners will agree that there is no better way to start a day there than by enjoying a Jackdaws Castle breakfast and seeing their horses! It’s always a very special place to have runners and we’re lucky to have it on our doorstep.
We wish you all a lovely weekend if you’re at the races or just watching it on TV.
Best wishes and take care,
Jonjo & AJ
Recent Winners
The story behind our new brand
This is an exciting new phase of the same business.
This new phase is not a dilution or step away from the Jonjo O’Neill name, but a strengthening and reinforcing of what has been built over the years with care and consideration. It is a new era and step forward while encompassing and adding to the historical brand values.
The O’Neill Racing emblem symbolises the O’Neill Family team.
The three O’s represent Jonjo (twice Champion Jockey) and his two sons AJ and Jonjo Jr. (a Champion Conditional, Grade 1 and Cheltenham Festival winning jockey). The three O’s are interlinked to form a fourth O representing Jonjo’s wife Jacqui who not only cements the whole family team but also takes enormous pride in ensuring an exquisite owners’ experience whether they are at the races or visiting their horses at Jackdaws Castle.
The logo has a Celtic design to reflect Jonjo’s Irish roots having been born in Castletownroche, Co. Cork.
The Steve Edge Design team introduced a unique palette inspired by the colours Jonjo wore when riding Sea Pigeon who he rode to victory at the Champion Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival and The Ebor at York. They combined these colours into a graphic device that could be used across all branded materials.
They developed the strap line ‘Beyond Performance‘ to help capture the teams dedication to delivering the best possible experience for all their owners, both on and off the track.
We strive to offer an unsurpassed quality of service to all our wonderful owners. Our aim is that everyone who attends Jackdaws Castle feels they are not only welcomed to the sport but welcomed to the O’Neill family.
Celebrating our brand launch!
As we mentioned above, we have loved welcoming our owners to Jackdaws Castle to help us celebrate our new brand.
Below, is a video and some photographs of our recent celebrations.
Cheltenham & Gallagher Youth Day
It was wonderful to welcome a group of youngsters in partnership between The Jockey Club and Gallagher to Jackdaws Castle for another wholesome morning.
The initiative aims to enhance and develop the positive impact and role that Gallagher and The Jockey Club have within local communities by offering experiences outside of race days for young audiences from diverse and disadvantaged communities to learn about the thoroughbred racing industry and the diverse range of career opportunities it has to offer.
The morning started with greeting the group off their bus and having photos with Jonjo and AJ, before heading out to watch the horses on the gallops under the guidance of ITV Racing’s Mick Fitzgerald and Jockey Daryl Jacob.
We then came back into the yard to watch a horse swim and then it was time to feed the horses some carrots which was a highlight for everyone!
The partnership has been shortlisted for a RCA (Racecourse Association Award) for their brilliant work in this area.
Employee of the month
Many congratulations to Jane Edwards for being awarded our Employee of the Month.
Jane is a wonderful recent addition as our Accounts Manager, and her hard work and dedication is greatly appreciated. She wins a dinner, bed & breakfast overnight stay at the Mecure Hawkwell House Hotel in Oxford.
A huge thank you to Isabela Dumbrava, Chris Ford and Accor for their generous sponsorship of our Employee of the Month which rewards team members with a wonderful experience.
HORSES FOR SALE
We have a selection of horses for sale, sole ownership and partnership horses. If you like to get involved with Jonjo & AJ, please get in touch at pa@oneill.racing and we would delighted to give you further information.
Upcoming Birthdays & Work Anniversaries
Happy birthday to…
Megan Thackray
3/11/2024
Gabby Ungureanu
6/11/2024
John Dina
13/11/2024
Ben Macey
26/11/2024
Social Media
We are very active on all of our social media platforms,
please give us a follow using the links below.
Subscribe to our Newsletter
If you would like to receive our newsletters, please subscribe using the form below.
If you would like to get in touch and find out more about getting involved in racehorse ownership please call us on 01386 584 209 or email racingoffice@oneill.racing
If you wish to unsubscribe from this newsletter, please click here.
