THE announcement of the split between influential owner/trainer Barry Connell and up-and-coming jockey Michael O’Sullivan came as something of a surprise but given the nature of the breakdown in the partnership, it may have been brewing for a while.

I don’t know and I’m not going to judge one way or another, so it’s not to besmirch Connell that I will say that the loss of that valuable retainer could be the making of O’Sullivan.