Jacob’s major treble

O’Brien and McDonald on mark too

IT WAS a little bit like the calm after the festive racing storm for most of last week, but Daryl Jacob kept up his recent strong run and bookended the week with a Grade 2 double at Cheltenham on New Year’s Day and a Grade 1 winner at Chepstow on Saturday, the three races worth more than £125,000 in total.

If he and the horses avoid injury over the next ten weeks, the Davidstown man will have some wonderful ammunition to take to the Cheltenham Festival, mostly supplied by his retaining owners, Simon Munir and Isaac Souede. He might be a good outside bet for leading rider at the Festival.

Jacob picked up a near 10/1 double in a couple of Grade 2 races worth £75.000 at Cheltenham on Monday. He had an armchair ride on the Nicky Henderson-trained Vyta Du Roc (15/8f) in the £25,000 handicap chase, winning by 22 lengths from fellow Wexford jockey, Tom O’Brien, on Lamb or Cod (12/1) for Philip Hobbs.

He followed up with the £50,000 Relkeel Hurdle on Wholestone (9/4f), trained by Nigel Twiston-Davies, a little over three lengths ahead of Lizzie Kelly on Agrapart (4/1). He almost made it a treble in the concluding £25,000 bumper when second on Malinas Jack, a 25/1 outsider.

Then on Saturday at the re-arranged Welsh Grand National meeting at Chepstow, Jacob and Henderson confirmed hot-favouritism on We Have A Dream (8/11) in the £50,000 Grade 1 Corals Future Champions juvenile hurdle finale by a snug one and a half lengths.

Tom O’Brien was in action at Wincanton on Saturday and had a very nice double. He took the feature on the card, the £20,000 Class 2 handicap chase, very comfortably with Kayf Tara (15/8) for Philip Hobbs, being helped when evens favourite, Paul Nicholls’ Antartica De Thaix, tumbled at the second last.

O’Brien had scored earlier on Rainy Day Dylan (a gambled on 5/2) in the opening handicap hurdle for Neill Mulholland by a handy seven lengths.

Daryl Jacob - off to a flyer for 2018.

Earlier in the week, Pat McDonald also got the new year off to a good start with a win on his only ride on the all-weather at Newcastle on Tuesday, getting up by a neck in a £25,000 seven-furlong handicap on Von Blucher (11/2) for Rebecca Menzies.

Jacob and McDonald kept up the good work on Wednesday - the Davidstown man won a maiden hurdle at Ludlow for Nicky Henderson by eight lengths on Indian Hawk (2/1f), while McDonald had another long-priced all-weather winner at Southwell on Zaeem (10/1) for Ivan Fortado, to justify the 200-mile round trip.

The undependable nature of racing was well illustrated on Thursday - Jacob had one ride at Bangor-on-Dee and fell when squeezed for room, while McDonald had a frustrating day at Newcastle with three seconds from his seven rides, beaten less than three lengths in total.

In Ireland there was racing at Fairyhouse and Tramore on New Year’s Day, and Paul Nolan’s win at Tramore was the only local success. His Peculiar Genius scored under an all-out drive from Waterford five-pound claimer, Dylan Robinson, in the rated novice chase.

This was a repeat of a win on the same card last year and the ‘Genius’ had half a length to spare over a dogged Blue Empyrean under Andrew Ring. The win did not surprise those in the know either as he was backed in from 16/1 in the morning to 4/1 at the start.

Paul’s brother, Jimmy, agreed the horses are running well. ‘He jumped like a stag and I’m glad we ran him now. He’ll mix it between hurdles and fences from now on,’ he said.

There was a keen Wexford interest in the first race of the year at Fairyhouse, won by Davy Russell on Gordon Elliott’s Dortmund Park (11/4). Less than a length behind was Liz Doyle’s Catwalk King (20/1) under Donagh Meyler from Kilmacow, with J.J. Slevin from Caim taking third on Thermistocles (11/2), trained by his cousin, Joseph O’Brien.

Slevin went over to Ayr for two rides on Tuesday for Steven Crawford from Co. Antrim and he made it pay in a pair of hurdles - he won on Elusive Theatre (3/1) and filled second on Ardean Lass (11/4).

The McCarthy Insurance meeting at Mallow on Saturday saw Noel Meade’s two Wexford jockeys involved in the gruelling maiden hurdle over three miles.

Victory went to Jonathan Moore (Adamstown) on the heavily-punted Guided by You (backed from 11/1 in the morning to 11/4 at the off), with Seán Flanagan taking third on Gigginstown’s Stoneford (15/8), over seven lengths back. They were split by Roger Loughran on Tom Foley’s Therellalwaysbeone (backed from 50s in the morning into 12s).

At Naas on Sunday, Colin Bowe’s Golden Flowerpower (backed from 20/1 in the morning into 10/1) came second under Donie McInerney in the mares’ beginners’ chase, well back from a Mullins hot-shot winner, Asthuria (1/3f), while J.J. Slevin was second in the opening maiden hurdle on Joseph O’Brien’s Border Control (6/1), behind Another Barney (4/1) for Robbie Power and Jessica Harrington.

MENTAL HEALTH: for years it has been the silent killer, stalking prey like no other disease, lurking in the shadows, ready to strike, ready to pounce with jagged claws that are so difficult to prise off. And nobody is immune.

That’s the scary thing, really. There is no type, nobody gets spared. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise when reports circulated that former WBC heavyweight champion of the world Frank Bruno was having problems.

But here’s the thing: people remember the bellowy laugh, the big man with the smile seemingly knotted to his face. Big Frank, he couldn’t be struggling, could he? He was, and it wasn’t exactly dealt with tactfully.

The disgraceful way Bruno was treated, and his journey back to being well, through his whole battle with his mental health, is dealt with in detail in his new book, ‘Let me be Frank’. Let’s just say, the title could hardly be more apt.

Bruno, with the help of excellent ghostwriter Nick Owens, delves deep into his mind. He drags out the demons to show them to the world. They got their good shots in, there’s no doubt about that, but the big man looks to be winning the war.

The British boxing champ had previously released a memoir that detailed his life up until 2005, a couple of years after the first time he was sectioned.

This is a much more focused effort, dealing with his life, predominantly, between 2012, when things started to spiral again, and now.

The detail Bruno goes into is remarkable and the story is truly heartbreaking.

His emotions are raw, his confusion is so real, and chapter by chapter the story is one of two things - renewed hope or absolute despair.

It’s interesting that Bruno disputes his bipolar diagnosis, doubts that exactly fits with what he knows and feels. People know their own body, they know their own mind better than anyone else, and it wouldn’t be a big surprise if he’s proved correct.

Bruno also doesn’t believe that being hit in the ring caused his downward spiral. Boxing is in a very dangerous spot at the moment, and the sport’s link with Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) is only going to get stronger.

While American football and other physical sports like rugby may eventually tailor the rules to combat the problem, it will be one hell of a task to take head-shots out of boxing. It’s probably something Bruno will eventually be tested for once tests on the living are deemed accurate.

Honestly, this publication has the power to bring up a sense of anger while you read it. The way people struggling with their mental health are dealt with, as described in detail by Bruno, is nothing short of disgusting.

In this country it feels like only one major national problem can be the centre of attention at any one time, and at the moment that’s the homeless issue. But the mental health juggernaut is not slowing down, it really isn’t, and ‘Let me be Frank’ is successful in shining a light on the myriad of hurdles ahead for those who are struggling.

Boxing fans of an age, those who have known more than Floyd Mayweather and Anthony Joshua, will remember the halcyon days of Bruno, the Tyson bouts, the Lewis disappointment. They will despair at what they read but they have to pick this up.

Really, the book goes far beyond boxing, it goes beyond sport. This is human life in its rawest, most fragile form. This book is a must-read for everyone.

DEAN GOODISON

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