Rejuvenated Russell gets over his blip
THE handshake between owner and jockey after the Ryanair Chase was heartfelt and sincere. It was the act of two men who have come a fair way in life and understand each other.
It was Michael O’Leary who reached up to Davy Russell, and he leaned down from Balko Des Flos and responded with a firm grip and a smile.
This was a good day for two driven men. For Russell, yesterday’s treble was the latest act in a career of stunning rejuvenation since he lost the job of retained rider for O’Leary over a cup of tea at Punchestown at the end of 2013.
Some feared for Russell then, yet he is hewn from girders and has not only survived, but prospered.
He described the falling-out yesterday as a ‘blip’ and shrugged ‘sure everyone has a blip’. Yet he stayed onside with O’Leary? ‘As much as I stayed with him, you must give him credit, too. He’s a good man. We get on well. He has supported me for a lot of my career.’
Almost 39, Russell is not only on course for the Irish jump jockey’s title but, more pointedly, the leading jockey’s crown at Cheltenham, which he has never won.
He is on four winners after booting home Shattered Love (4-1), Balko Des Flos (8-1) and The Storyteller for a 377-1 treble, each time drawing on his experience of an arena he knows, and rides, as well as anyone.
‘Any winner here is huge. As I said coming over, if I won the terrier race here I’d be happy,’ he grinned.
Russell is now level with Richard Johnson on 22 Festival wins and only Ruby Walsh (58) and Barry Geraghty (35) have more victories among jockeys still going strong — not bad for a fella who was 26 when he first cracked the Festival code.
In contrast, Walsh was 18 and Jack Kennedy a slip of a lad at 17.
Entering the final day’s combat, Russell will wear the coveted armband and you know he will defend it with his every fibre.
His week, which began on an uncertain note when Petit Mouchoir set off at a kamikaze pace in the Arkle Chase, has taken flight.
‘It’s a thing of dreams to be in front. There isn’t a jockey in the weigh-room who wouldn’t want the top jockey award,’ he said.
Just as he is canny on the course, Russell chooses his words carefully in his moments of glory, too.
After Balko Des Flos drew clear of Un De Sceaux, he made a point of thanking fellow jockey Brian Hughes for his help following a nasty fall in the Cross Country on Wednesday.
‘Brian didn’t even get changed for the Bumper. He ran out to his car and got an ice machine. I don’t know if I’d be able to ride today but for him.
‘The knee was quite sore but it was soft tissue not bone and once I got it iced and seen to, I was okay.’
That fellow riders would go the extra mile for Russell illustrates the esteem in which he’s held, for he is a rugged graduate of the amateur scene, the punishing tracks of Northern England — he never had it easy.
Yet, he retains the touch of a decent fella. After the Ryanair Chase, he ushered his father Jerry, who lost his wife Phyllis earlier this month, on to the platform for the post-race photo. It was a touching gesture.
And when he completed his treble on The Storyteller, he spoke of getting a new couch at home as his son has worn it out following the horses on the telly.
He mentioned his pregnant wife, Edelle, and had words of praise for trainer Gordon Elliott as ‘a master’ and ‘a marvellous man’.
Russell and Elliott soldiered on the point-to-point fields in their amateur days and their friendship is solid.
You sense Elliott never wanted Russell outside the Gigginstown tent. Did he have a quiet word with the O’Learys about keeping Russell involved even after the split? Who knows.
What’s certain is that the lines of communication were kept open, and Russell was used when needed. It left him in a position to step up when Bryan Cooper lost the Gigginstown gig last July.
Russell has three rides today — none in the Gold Cup — and probably needs a winner to ward off young buck Kennedy and Paul Townend.
The chance to be crowned king at Cheltenham may not come around again and second place doesn’t interest him. ‘Being first is all that counts,’ he said.