James hits century
of the season for James W. Doyle, Monageer, and the Monbeg crew in the ladies’ open race, under Liz Lawlor. The Monbeg Syndicate had six winners for the week, bringing their total to a remarkable 29 so far.
The week’s action began on Wednesday at Tallow for the Killeagh Hunt and three divides meant there were nine races, with the Wexford contingent making a big impact, with doubles for Barry O’Neill, Rob James, Jamie Codd and trainer Colin Bowe, including one dead-heat.
O’Neill and Colin Bowe struck in four-year-old mares’maiden with an impressive run by Victoria Bay (Doyen-Torsha), owned by Rich and Nora Furlong, to come home by eight lengths.
The two four-year-old geldings’ maidens were dominated by the Wexford yards. Donnchadh Doyle and Monbeg won the first with Chooseyourweapon (Flemensfirth-Definite Love), under Rob James. Goldencard was second for Codd and Denis Murphy, with Turtle Wards third for O’Neill and Bowe.
In the second, it was the turn of Codd and Murphy with Tossapenny (Presenting-Blueanna) for Paudie Coffey, with Rob James third on Leskinfere for Liam Kenny. This was a good performance.
O’Neill and Bowe completed a double with Maria Kavanagh’s Out of Africa (King’s Theatre-Nairobi) in the older mares’ maiden, ahead of Jimmy O’Rourke on Ballina Lady for Wayne Kehoe.
Rob James and Jamie Codd both completed doubles in the older geldings’ maiden as they dead heated in a dramatic finish. James was on Good Man Vinnie for Denis Leahy (Cork), and Codd was on Minella Whisper for John Nallen.
They raced at Loughanmore, Co. Antrim, on Saturday and Wexford was again well represented, with Jamie Codd scoring a double. He opened with another Denis Murphy four-year-old winner in the mares’ maiden, aboard Deputy Jones (Milan-Hudson Hope), ahead of Isle of Destiny for Donnchadh Doyle and Rob James, and Go Millie Go for Barry O’Neill and Colin Bowe.
The four-year-old geldings’ maiden was divided, and Colin Bowe was thwarted in Division 1 by northern horse, Battleoverdoyen, filling second with Court Liability under Rob James, and third with Big Difference under Barry O’Neill.
James and Doyle combined for an all-the-way win in Division 2 with Plouis (Milan-Garlucy), seeing off Kelp Forest for the Codds, Jamie and Willie, with Rath An Uir third for O’Neill and Bowe.
Barry O’Neill had his seventh win in the past two years on his old friend, Maple Mons, for David Christie in the mares’ open race, and Jamie Codd completed his double in the two-runner geldings’ open with his third win of the season on Jim Dreaper’s Complete Sizing.
They raced at Loughanmore again and at Stradbally, Co. Laois, on Monday; there is a two-day meeting at Largy, Co. Antrim, on Friday and Saturday, and they race on Sunday at Fairyhouse, Dromahane near Mallow, and Askeaton in Limerick.
Reverting back briefly to Denis Murphy’s marvellous feats on Sunday week last, I shortchanged him by crediting him with just four winners from three meetings; he actually had five. Sorry about that, it was entirely my fault. For the record, the one I missed was in the Porter’s Bar Killenagh older geldings’ maiden at the Island Hunt meeting at Courtown where he completed a hat-trick with Pop The Champagne (Scorpion-Manesbill), ridden by Rob James. ONOR McGREGOR is far and away the most recognisable face in the world of the UFC, revolutionising the organisation after rising from collecting the dole in Crumlin to becoming a world famous money printing machine.
It’s no surprise then that an author would want to ride his wave of success and bring us the tale of the Dubliner that rose from being an unknown in 2013 to becoming a household name and the first fighter to hold two UFC titles simultaneously a few years later.
Jack Slack’s offering may be called ‘Notorious: The Life and Fights of Conor McGregor’, but in truth it’s very much concentrated on events in the octagon and the carnival that surrounds it, rather than giving us any real insight into the man behind the knockout left hook and the loud-mouthed, trash-talking persona.
The book does touch on aspects of McGregor’s struggles to reach the top, from his early life training with friends in a shed, to throwing away his prospects of a career as a plumber to pursue what seemed like a crazy dream, and how he recovered from a few early setbacks in the fight game to turn things around by learning from his mistakes.
There’s no doubting that McGregor is a tremendous talent in the confines of the cage, but outside the heat of battle his ability to sell his pantomime character is unequalled and is as much a reason for his rise through the ranks as his fighting ability. As a non-aficionado of Mixed Martial Arts, one of the more interesting segments is one which highlights the dangers of extreme weight loss through dehydration to make the cut.
A gaunt looking McGregor at the weigh-in the day before a fight when he had to make 145 lb. to compete at featherweight was a familiar and harrowing sight, the effects of draining the body of water before piling on the pounds again prior to the bout, something which unquestionably would have a detrimental effect on the body.
For anybody that has had their head, ostrich-like, buried in the sand for the past couple of years and missed McGregor’s meteoric rise to super-stardom, the book would certainly be a handy point of reference to get the wannabe fan up to speed with his fighting highs and lows. Anybody possessing an ability to take in a barrage of technical information like a thirsty sponge would be able to impress their friends down the pub with in-depth analysis of all of McGregor’s fights to date.
For the rest of us it’s enough to give us a flavour of how McGregor made it to the top through hard work, sheer grit and a larger than life personality; albeit with some favourable fight placement by the powers-that-be in the UFC along the way, although anyone presented with such a cash cow would be foolish not to milk it.
If you approach this offering expecting to root through the bins of McGregor’s life or to discover what motivates the man, you’ll turn the final page with a sense of disappointment.
However, if you take it for what it is: a detailed and well-written description of each of McGregor’s battles within the octagon, the build-up and immediate aftermath, with some technical aspects of the craft interspersed in between, it certainly has its place, giving the reader a better understanding of the intricacies of the sport itself.
If you want to learn more about the inner thoughts of the man staring menacingly at you from the front cover, you’ll have to wait until McGregor lets down his guard, and lays bare the real ‘Notorious’. DAVE DEVEREUX Visit The Book Centre on Wexford’s Main Street for the very best selection of sports books.