Annie Mc, your popular and talented race-mare trained by Jonjo O’Neill, is to retire from racing with immediate effect.

The nine-year-old daughter of Mahler has developed an issue with her wind which would have required surgery that would have ruled her out of her main target, the Cheltenham Festival. As the Coral Racing Club had already planned to retire Annie Mc at the end of the current season to become a broodmare, the decision was taken by the owner and trainer, Jonjo O’Neill, to bring down the curtain on her racing career now.

Watch our video to find out more from veterinary surgeon, Ben Brain.

“This is both a sad and a happy day for everyone connected with this charismatic racehorse as she has taken us all on an exciting journey and we never wanted it to end, but we are delighted that she is going out happy and healthy. She has achieved more than we could have ever imagined, acting as the flag bearer for the Coral Racing Club, and giving us so much enjoyment along the way,” said Simon Clare, Coral PR Director. 

“Jonjo and the team at Jackdaws Castle have handled her brilliantly throughout her career, and she can now look forward to a happy retirement from racing and hopefully having some babies,” added Clare.

Annie Mc ran second to Honeysuckle in her first ever race in an Irish Point to Point in April 2018, before Coral purchased her through Jonjo O’Neill and Tom Malone.

Since making her debut under rules at Chepstow in October 2018, Annie Mc has won 7 of her 18 races, including the Grade 2 Novice (Limited Handicap) Hurdle at Newbury in March 2019, the Yorkshire Silver Vase Listed Mares’ Chase at Doncaster in December 2020, and the Lady Protectress Listed Mares Chase at Warwick in February 2021.

Coral ambassador, and ITV Racing presenter, Chris Hughes, formed a high-profile bond with Annie Mc over the course of her racing career, a relationship he regularly posted about on his social media channels to millions of people, ensuring that she became one of the best-known racehorses in the UK.

Radio 1 DJ, Annie Mac, also became aware of her equine (close) namesake in 2020, talking about her on air on her radio show, before placing a Coral charity bet and cheering on Annie Mc when she ran in the 2020 running of the Marsh Novices Chase at the Cheltenham Festival.