Amateur jockey McNamara dies

DUBLIN, July 26, (AFP): JT McNamara, one of Ireland’s leading amateur jump racing jockeys until he was paralysed in a fall three years ago, has died aged 41, it was announced Tuesday.

McNamara, who clocked four wins at jump racing’s most prestigious meeting, the Cheltenham Festival, died in his sleep.

“I’ve just spoken to his wife Caroline and I can confirm JT passed away peacefully during the night,” said Adrian McGoldrick, senior medical officer for the Irish Turf Club, which is responsible for horseracing in Ireland.

McNamara, whose cousin Robbie was also left seriously injured after a fall last year, fractured vertebrae in his spine following his fall from Galaxy Rock in the Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup at the 2013 Cheltenham Festival. He was due to retire later that year.

The racing world set up a fund to help him, with among others Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary — one of jump racing’s biggest and most successful owners — contributing 200,000 euros in 2013 ($256,000 at the time). Olympics and on after that to the Vuelta, and that’s still the outline at the minute,” Brailsford told Sky Sports.

“As we go through the next phase with the Olympics, we will assess it as we go along. All being well, that’s what we will be doing.”

The 2016 Vuelta begins in Ourense, northwest Spain, on August 20, 10 days after the Olympic time-trial takes place. British Chris Froome of Team Sky gestures during the 81st edition of the ‘Natourcriterium Aalst’ cycling race on

July 25 in Aalst. (AFP) improve next year but this is Formula One, anything can happen. We are still waiting for things to happen with this McLaren Honda project but we are on the way up.”

Honda were McLaren’s engine partners when they were dominant at the end of the 1980s and returned to the British team last year — the second year of the new V6 turbo hybrid era with Mercedes already dominant.

McLaren, eight times constructors’ champions, have not won a race since 2012.

Despite another torrid campaign and a huge crash in the Australian Grand Prix in March, Alonso said he had no plans to retire.

“My future in Formula One will not depend on this car. Even in these last two difficult years I’ve been enjoying myself a lot,” added Alonso, who won the world drivers championship in 2005 and 2006.

“If the cars are as fun as they were in