Codd wins bumper
Wexford flag kept flying at Fairyhouse
THERE WERE some big prizes on offer at Fairyhouse over the weekend, and the Wexford connections had limited success, with J.J. Slevin and Jamie Codd registering wins in the first and last races of the two-day meeting.
Sunday’s card was the richest of the season so far with three Grade 1s and a €100k handicap, but we had to wait for the last for a Wexford win, with Jamie Codd steering home Envoi Allen (4/9) for Elliott in a strong, 14-runner bumper.
Codd had driven up from Cork where he had won the opening four-year-old maiden for Denis Murphy (The Ballagh) on Flemensfirth gelding, Overthetop
This was a track debut for Envoi Allen which had been an impressive ten-length winner of a point-topoint at the Wexford Hunt meeting at Ballinaboola in February, under Barry O’Neill. The Colin Bowetrained son of Muhtathir was then sold on at the Cheltenham Sale for a cool £400,000 to the Cheveley Park Stud, and his career will be watched with interest.
Seán Flanagan was in contention all through the €50k handicap chase but had to settle for second on Noel Meade’s Major Destination (16/1), behind surprise all-theway winner, Dinnie’s Vinnie (also 16/1) for the Dempseys, with Paul Nolan’s Fitzhenry (6/1) coming in third under Barry Geraghty.
It was Davy Russell’s day with a terrific treble, including a Grade 1 on Delta Work for Gordon Elliott in the Drinmore.
There were impressive Grade 1 wins for Ruby Walsh on Quick Grabim for Willie Mullins in the Royal Bond hurdle and by Jack Kennedy on Apple’s Jade as the mare took the Hatton’s Grace hurdle for the third year in a row even though she’s only a six-year-old.
Much more will be heard of these as the season progresses, and Cheltenham in March will be the ultimate target.
Slevin began well in the first on Saturday, getting home by a neck on cousin Joseph O’Brien’s Mortal (10/1) in the listed Ladbrokes novice hurdle, with Seán Flanagan third on Noel Meade’s Cherokee Bill (20/1).
Seán O’Keeffe was delighted to get a couple of rides for the powerful Jessica Harrington yard and was second against all the top riders in a 17-runner handicap hurdle on her Jetez (11/2), beaten by Brian Hayes on Nobody Home.
Earlier in the week, Flanagan won a maiden hurdle at Punchestown on Wednesday on the Noel Meade-trained Daly Tiger (6/4f); Paul Nolan’s Quamino (9/1) came third under Bryan Cooper in a rated novice chase, and Jamie Codd came second in the bumper on Minella Beat (8/1) for John Nallen.
Barry O’Neill, champion pointto-point jockey, scored on the track at Limerick on Friday in a qualified riders’ novice hurdle on Plan of Attack (7/2) for Henry De Bromhead.
Both Daryl Jacob and Tom O’Brien had winners on Wednesday at Hereford – Star of Lanka (3/1) scoring for Jacob in a novice hurdle for Warren Greatrex, while O’Brien won for Paul Webber on Copperfacejack (7/1) in a handicap chase.
O’Brien won at Doncaster on Friday aboard Almost Gold (4/5f) for Ian Williams, and he travelled to Leicester for a single ride on Sunday and made it pay on the well-backed Master Work (6/5f) for Philip Hobbs.
P.J. McDonald has been finding winners a bit harder to come by back on the all-weather after a good season on turf, but he won on Wednesday at Newcastle on Breathtaking Look (6/1).
IT’S SUCH a simple concept, and it works so well; after reading ‘On The Seventh Day - Thirty Years of Great Sports Writing From The Sunday Independent’, the only question to be asked is: why didn’t they think of this sooner?
The newspaper industry may be struggling like never before, but a large proportion of the population still enjoys setting aside some time at the weekend to be entertained by the written word.
And for sports enthusiasts, there’s nothing better than sitting down and getting stuck into a meaty interview or an opinion piece that is guaranteed to delight some and inflame the passions of others.
In that regard, the ‘Sunday Independent’ has always been well served by its stable of writers. I don’t always agree with the views they espouse, but I always enjoy the manner in which they’re expressed, and that, to me, is the key to accomplished writing.
The newspaper’s sports editor, Longford man John Greene, has delved into the archives and picked out a lengthy list of the more accomplished pieces that appeared in print since the late 1980s.
It’s an eclectic mix, with 48 chapters in total featuring contributions from 23 writers.
And the beauty of a book of this nature is that the reader can dip in and out of it in whatever way they choose.
For example, if you’re a big fan of one particular journalist, then the trick is to flick through the pages and read his or her contributions first.
Alternatively, it’s possible to completely ignore an author and still not lose a full sense of the book’s overall quality.
Others might prefer to focus on the writing related to their favourite sport first, but in my case I decided not to break the habit of a lifetime so I read it from cover to cover.
The diversity of the contributions, both in terms of style deployed and subject matter covered, meant that it held my attention from start to finish.
And I enjoyed jumping from one sport to the next, even those that normally wouldn’t float my boat.
My two favourite writers in the ‘Sunday Independent’ sports section are Joe Brolly and Eamonn Sweeney, both of whom know how to stir the pot while having no fear of expressing an opinion that might be left of centre.
There’s a mischievious side to their work too, and, like all essential writing, it’s provocative and entertaining in equal measure.
Their contributions to this compilation are among my favourites, but I was also given a timely reminder of Eamon Dunphy’s talent with the written word.
He may have lost relevance with some of those television outbursts over the years, but when he was on the ‘Sindo’ team he produced some memorable pieces.
One in particular, taking a close look at Jack Charlton and his eccentricities, is the stand-out chapter for me in this publication.
At this time of year, The Book Centre is crowded with present-hunters, and invariably the traffic is particularly busy around the sports section.
I would recommend this one highly as a nice present for a sports fan of any vintage or preference, because - while it was never intended to be a history of the past 30 years - it still covers most of the big events of the era, with some touching human stories thrown in for good measure.
With over 370 pages to digest, it does a fine job in capturing the wonderful world of sport in its various forms.
ALAN AHERNE
Visit The Book Centre on Wexford’s Main Street for the very best selection of sports books.