Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
ALL FOR ONE & ONE FOR ALL
Debutant jockey Fox was a broken man last month... now he’s a National treasure BRITAIN’S BEST COLUMNIST FROM AINTREE
Loyalty is still a great thing and I’m glad that we stuck by Derek
FOUR weeks ago, Derek Fox lay on Carlisle turf, his Grand National dream seemingly broken – along with his left wrist and right collarbone.
Jump jockeys are a different breed – as if we didn’t know it.
A month on, Fox could not smile wide enough.
“It’s even better than I imagined it would ever be. It’s the best feeling I have ever had. It is unbelievable. It’s a dream come true,” he declared.
This is the fundamental beauty of this epic occasion. It can give the unsung rider his moment in the sun, make a household name, however briefly, out of someone known by few outside his own household.
He almost didn’t make it after that fall at Carlisle but three weeks of intensive rehabilitation saw him back in the saddle last Wednesday.
After giving One For Arthur a peach of a ride, his own household were there to share the euphoria, mum Jacqueline and sister Sarah tearfully watching his press conference from the back of the room.
And the 24-year-old from Sligo eventually cracked when talking about his uncle, trainer Mark McNiff, back in Ireland.
“He always believed in me,” said Fox, winning at his first attempt. “He was a great coach and was always giving me advice.
“He is a very critical man and hard to please so it’s great to do this.”
With that, welling up, his voice cracked.
Fox has had his setbacks, picking up a 20-month driving ban after being caught at the wheel nearly three times over the legal limit in 2015.
For a jockey travelling thousands of miles for rides up and down the country, that is a major issue.
But Lucinda Russell, who brought Fox to Scotland in 2013, kept faith. Not only that, she made him stable jockey last year.
“Derek is amazing,” she said, after becoming the fourth woman to train a Grand National winner.
“I know he is a horseman and everything, but his timing is fantastic as well and the self-confidence he has is brilliant. Before the Melling Road, I turned to the owners and shouted ‘We are going to win the National!’.
“With a horse like that and a jockey like that, what could be better?”
Russell’s partner and assistant is Peter Scudamore, the eight-times champion jockey who never won an Aintree National.
Scudamore also lavished praise on Fox, saying: “Sometimes, loyalty is still a great thing and I was very pleased that we stuck by Derek and he won the National. It is a great thrill.
“I don’t like the word small but we are not one of the most fashionable [training yards]. We’ve had to work hard to get where we are. It’s a personal pride to show you can compete with the big boys.”
The big boys were represented by the second home, Cause Of Causes, from the powerhouse Gordon Elliott stable and owned by the most highprofile racing supporter in the land, JP McManus.
One For Arthur is owned by Bel McClung and Debs Thomson – who style themselves the ‘Two Golf Widows’.
“Basically, we had too much gin at Kelso and said let’s get a horse,” said Bel, glass of bubbly in hand.
Fox stuck to the mineral water, savouring every moment of the day.
Highly regarded, he might yet become one of those names known beyond his sport’s boundaries. A McCoy, a Walsh, a Scudamore.
It is improbable, though, and he knows it.
“Not everyone can be a champion jockey as it’s a very tricky thing to be,” Fox said.
“But this race just gives a standard jockey like me a chance to shine on the big stage.”
Shine, he did. No one shined brighter.