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By Ray Hickson

He carries a name that’s been synonymous with horse racing for decades, well before he was born, and as he’s entered the training ranks Mitchell Conners wants to see that name back up in lights.

As a fourth-generation trainer there’s a lot of history, and plenty of huge moments, behind that Conners name.

He’s heard stories of great horses like Belle Du Jour, who won the fourth of grandfather Clarry’s Golden Slippers in spectacular fashion some eight months before he was born.

Of Clarry’s greats like Research, Burst, Slight Chance and more and his father Marc’s major successes with the likes of his Group 1 winner Camino Rose.

Earlier in the season the 25-year-old joined forces with his father in a training partnership with a dream to have plenty of his own stories about reaching racing’s pinnacle to pass down.

Fourth generation trainer Mitchell Conners with his father and co-trainer Marc and grandfather Clarry and Willaidow at their Warwick Farm stable. (Pic: Grant Guy)

“The height of the Conners racing was a little bit before my time,’’ he said.

“I grew up with everyone talking about the Conners name and how big it is, but I never experienced it myself. How I see it is I just want our family to be back there.

“Everyone explains to me how big the Conners name is and my passion is to get the name back to where it should be. How everyone talks to me about it.

“The Belle Du Jour 2000 Slipper definitely comes out often.

“Dad likes talking about those days, he’s very passionate and honoured about what our family has done.”

Like a lot of fathers are with their children, Marc Conners is Mitchell’s biggest fan. They’re best friends. While his early soccer pursuits were supported, when it came to a career it was always going to be racing.

How could it not be?

He can remember working at the stables around age 12, before school and in the holidays, but it wasn’t until he reached the final year of high school he realised what he always knew to be true.

And it didn’t hurt that in the second half of the 2010s a Group class mare called Super Too was in the stable.

“The only thing I ever wanted to do was be a horse trainer so I started to work out steps to get there,’’ he said.

“My dad has always been so in touch with my life with sport as a kid. Naturally you always want to do what your dad’s doing and it was such a natural path to be a trainer just like my dad.

“Luckily dad is very accommodating and put a lot of trust in me when I was young and I feel like that’s put me ahead.”

The road to training alongside his father took Mitchell interstate and to England, getting international experience was something Marc Conners insisted upon.

After a completing a course in equine management at Marcus Oldham College, Mitchell spent nine months working for Andrew Balding in the UK. It was a job that was cut short by the pandemic.

Not long after managing to make it back to Sydney, a position with Gai Waterhouse came up and he was then offered a foreman job with Ciaron Maher in Melbourne.

That gig saw him act as strapper for Gold Trip, an experience he’ll never forget, and he also spent some time in France in 2024 before heading back home and working towards a partnership that would get off to a perfect start.

“You get the connection with the horses when you’re working with other stables but I always came back to I should be doing this with my father,’’ Conners said.

“He’s the boss obviously but it’s about not getting stuck in one way and being open to how things can work with each horse individually. We’re open to taking each other’s ideas on board.

“I’ve come back in from the outside and doing things a lot differently with different trainers.

“When I suggest things he’s pretty open to it and we’ve been having good results with that.”

Cape Byron goes down as the horse that gave the Conners partnership its dream start when the five-year-old won at Hawkesbury on September 25 and it’s a moment Mitchell savours.

Mitchell Conners with his first stakes winner as a trainer, Group 3 JRA Plate winner Willaidow (Pic: Grant Guy).

“Once it became official and we had the winner on the first day of the partnership it was like this is what I’ve been dreaming of,’’ he said.

“People can go their whole lives and not achieve some of their dreams and one of my biggest dreams was to train with my father and I’ve done that early.

“I’m living the dream I’ve always wanted to live.”

Conners knows that history only counts for so much. Sometimes it counts for even less in racing.

Yes, his name is a famous one but the world has changed so much. We’re in an era of large stables dominating racing which makes it tougher for family businesses like the Conners.

Clarry’s presence serves as a reminder of how it used to be but as he approaches his 80th birthday in late February the desire to train winners remains.

That kind of dedication has rubbed off from one generation to the next.

“He doesn’t miss mornings and doesn’t miss many afternoons so he’s always around. It’s just that presence,’’ Mitchell says of his grandfather.

“It’s always very interesting how he talks about how he trains horses and how different horse training is these days.

“What’s been passed down the most in our family is how we approach yearlings and what we like to buy. Clarry knows how to buy a nice yearling.”

The stable currently has a Group class sprinter in Willaidow to give the Conners team a flagbearer during carnival time but the search continues for that special horse every stable wants.

“You’ve got to focus on the horses you have at the moment and try to get the best out of them while also looking forward and trying to expand and bring new horses in all the time,’’ he said.

“We thrive off the pressure of getting better and trying to get into those Group races that everyone watches during carnival time.

“We’re working for the family to grow the business together and we’re very excited with how we are going. We want to be in those big races in carnival time consistently.

“We have some nice horses in our stable and hopefully we can capitalise and make the most out of them.”

Hoofnote: Willaidow gave Mitchell Conners his first stakes win, as well as the partnership's, when taking out the Group 3 JRA Plate (1200m) at Rosehill on January 31.

*This article originally appeared in the February 2026 edition of the Racing NSW magazine

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