TAKING IT ALL ON THE CHIN
The irrepressible Davy Russell is never down for too long
YOU never want to be a cheerleader for the sake of it but while describing the latest Cheltenham Festival as one of the best in living memory might leave one open to accusations of feeding the hype machine, it holds true for this observer anyway.
There were so many narratives, tremendous feats by trainers, jockeys and horses from both sides of the Irish Sea.
There were plenty of hard luck stories too for that is the nature of the game. Davy Russell’s fortunes in the space of around 45 minutes on a spectacular St Patrick’s Day for Irish followers (six winners for the visitors to the hosts’ one) encapsulated the vicissitudes of jump racing exquisitely, just as his whole career has done.
A superstar of the point-to-point game, he secured a job in England as Ferdy Murphy’s main man but was much too raw. An association back home with Edward O’Grady was fruitful for a while but that ended, too.
Once more, he re-established himself and got the call from Michael O’Leary to become his main man in 2007. A cherished dream of becoming champion jockey was finally realised in 2012, and he retained the title the following season.
Before that year was over though, he was out of a job. After riding Rogue Angel to victory at Punchestown on New Year’s Eve, O’Leary asked him for a now infamous cup of tea and broke the news. It was a shattering blow, but he held his counsel and they departed on good terms.
Less than three months later, he was booting home a last-day treble at Cheltenham that included a Gold Cup suc- cess on Lord Windermere and sensationally, two winners in the maroon livery of his former employers.
That was a testament to his growing maturity, to the benefits of not burning bridges. He was generally good at that, winning twice at Cheltenham for Murphy long after the conclusion of their official partnership.
This year, Russell had two Cheltenham successes to maintain a fantastic streak that goes back to 2006, when the Philip Rothwell-trained Native Jack broke his duck. Only Ruby Walsh has a longer sequence.
That is remarkable consistency in a sport where a broken collarbone is the equivalent of an ankle strain for most other sportspeople. In 2012, he managed to keep the run going before missing most of the meeting with a punctured lung. He now stands alongside Charlie Swan and Fred Winter on 17 Festival winners. Only Walsh, Geraghty, AP McCoy, Pat Taaffe, Richard Johnson and Richard Dunwoody have ridden more.
Diamond King, trained by Gordon Elliott, did the business in the Coral Cup thanks to a trademark patient ride from Russell. It was bittersweet for the Co Meath handler, as hugely promising chaser No More Heroes had earlier suffered a tendon injury and had to be put down that night.
Racing can be cruel like that at times. On Thursday, Russell was on board Zabana for Andrew Lynch in the JLT Novices’ Chase and the dry-
ing ground gave them a real chance. The likes of Lynch tend to have one bullet to fire at these types of meetings, if any at all. They tend to have Russell in the plate, too.
Unfortunately, they never got going as Russell was fired to the turf due to a very unsatisfactory start to the race. The red mist doesn’t descend as much as it did in the past and the rage was confined this time to a fired whip to the ground as Zabana galloped on without him.
‘I can go 40 minutes later to ride a different horse for a different trainer, but Andy Lynch is 70-odd years of age and has come here with one horse,’ he said afterwards.
You have to recalibrate quickly in this game though and while desperately disappointed for connections of Zabana, Russell had to focus on Mall Dini, a frustrating but talented sort in the trappy Pertemps Network Handicap Hurdle.
Pat Kelly only has a handful of horses in Craughwell but after Russell worked his magic, he was joining the greats in the shiniest of spotlights. The jockey jumped up on his back in the parade ring, clearly as happy for the trainer as himself.
The 36-year-old is a mass of contrasts in many ways, sometimes loquacious, sometimes withdrawn. He is deep and serious, and became aware over time that he was tormenting himself with the degree with which he analysed situations, mourned setbacks.
All the time though, he was renowned as a prankster with a well-honed sense of humour. He could laugh at himself. When asked if he had any advice for Cooper as he succeeded him with Gigginstown, he answered with a wry smile ‘If Michael asks for a cup of tea, say no!’
Cheltenham dominates the National Hunt landscape like never before, but it always held primacy. Russell’s father Jerry was an annual visitor and once travelled on a ride-on lawnmower, parking it between a Rolls Royce and a Bentley.
Davy still has a toy the old man brought back from one of his Gloucestershire jaunts.
There is no doubt he has mellowed. He has three children and will marry fiancée Edelle O’Meara, a former national pole vault champion next August. Fatherhood has had a profound impact.
‘If I could surround myself (with-children) I would,’ he said in an interview last year.
‘I would have as many children as I could have. It gives you another view on life.’
He is revered in his native Youghal and brings a few weigh room colleagues with him every year to participate in the Donkey Derby through the streets, raising funds for local charities.
He has also joined forces with trainer Jim Bolger to organise a yearly hurling match that has accumulated more than €400,000 for cancer research.
There was always that softer side though, as evidenced by his now familiar post-race celebration reserved for the amphitheatre at the base of the Cotswolds. It is a form of wave, from a movie called 8 Seconds, a wave delivered to a childhood friend who died.
This is a man who now has a wider lens with which to survey the world but, when it comes to the crunch, still possesses the focus, drive and talent to perform at the highest level in the sphere he excels in.
Never down for long.