Jockey News

O'Brien's article is absolutely top-notch, and manages to reveal sensitive details while still remaining respectful of JT and all the other lads who run the same risk.
 
Paddy Brennan handed 9-day ban for using whip above the permitted level on Captain Sunshine last week. Ban includes the entire Grand National meeting.
 
It is a very good article but this bit sent my eyes to the roof

You watched on Thursday afternoon, in the moments before the Kim Muir, as McCoy found a quiet spot in the weigh-room and sank deep into conversation with JP McManus' racing manager Frank Berry, the left arm of his green and gold silks spattered with the blood of Get Me Out Of Here which burst a blood vessel in the previous race.

With Russell unavailable, McCoy knew there was an opening to ride Sir Des Champs in the Gold Cup and, naturally, he was desperate to secure it. To do so he needed McManus' Sunnyhillboy not to run and you didn't need to be an expert in lip-reading to understand the nature of his discussion with Berry. From McCoy this wasn't ruthless or insensitive behaviour. If it had been the other way around, he knew, someone else would profit from his bad luck. It is how a relentlessly tough business has always worked.


Unless he was earwigging or was an expert in lip reading - might they have been discussing how GMOOH was going before he bled - and did he bleed at Christmas:blink:
 
As GMOOH had been making good headway and then stopped like he had been shot I imagine it might have been in their minds .
 
Another nice piece on JT from racing journalist Sam Turner on gg.com

I don’t know or have never met John Thomas McNamara and the chances are I probably won’t. Through my job I have followed his career and appreciated his talent in the saddle as one of horse racing’s top amateur riders.
But we have no association and because of this I feel somewhat of a fraud writing about a man that now lays in Frenchay Hospital, Bristol with the gravest spinal injuries after his first fence fall on Galaxy Rock at the Cheltenham Festival last week.
Eye witness reports suggest that after being parted from his mount in a shuddering manner, McNamara’s helmet was then shattered to pieces by a stray hoof from a rival horse.
It is that random hoof landing flush on his helmet which now leaves the much-loved Irishman with a bleak future of unimaginable upheaval and toil.
Some heartless onlookers will have little sympathy and will argue McNamara and his counterparts choose to ride for a living so they should accept the consequences, no matter how life threatening. From the little I know of McNamara and the majority of his weighing room colleagues, they would agree.
They are aware of the dangers and accept the risks, largely without question.
I can’t pretend to know what makes him tick, but jockeys are a different breed from you or I.
There cannot be many other professions where you are followed at work by an ambulance and a jockey’s threshold to pain and injury surpasses any other sportsman or sportswoman I have met. Racegoers and punters would do well to remember this when they cheer a last fence faller like a press room member, who should know a whole lot better, did last week.
Those falls, whether they come at the first or at the last fence when they may win you a hundred quid, are potential killers and to welcome them for potential financial gain is sickeningly distasteful.
Thankfully, the jockey in question got to his feet, a privilege McNamara was denied by his hideous injuries.
As a tipster and a punter I have been responsible for blaming jockeys for their inadequacies in the saddle when my selection or wager has proved unsuccessful or unfruitful.
Sometimes they are at fault, just as I am for making a poor decision and selecting the wrong horse. The difference being I am sat behind a keyboard or in front of a television, they can be sat behind an erratic rival or in front of a field of 20, knowing one poor jump and they could be trampled in the ensuing melee.
This danger is all too often underestimated or swept away in a blasé fashion when a rider emerges unscathed from a bone-crunching fall.
I feel more than a little ashamed and self indulgent writing about JT McNamara when there have been many of his colleagues which have suffered similar fates in years gone by.
Quite simply his mercurial ride aboard Rith Dubh in the four miler at Cheltenham in 2002 was responsible for transforming my life.
The victory, on a horse that did not want to put his head in front was, and still is, one of the most exquisite examples of a kid-glove ride.
That win led to success in a Racing Post tipping competition which meant I was spared covering Telford United Football Club in the Conference and could pursue a full time career in racing journalism.
Put simply, McNamara’s utter brilliance that day shaped my life and has enabled me to work in an industry I love.
I am all too aware of my lack of depth and human failing that McNamara’s troubles resonate more with me because of his efforts on my behalf a decade ago than some of the similar predicaments that have faced his weighing room colleagues since.
But as punters, tipsters or as racing fans we develop an affinity for jockeys, trainers and horses that we invest in emotionally and financially on a daily basis.
Some will make us money, some will make us shed a tear and some will drive us to distraction and exasperation.
But in most cases for us armchair jockeys there will be another race along in 10 minutes and the opportunity to gallop on with our lives, unhindered by recent history.
Sadly, JT McNamara does not have that luxury.
 
Latest news on JT

JT McNamara remains in the Intensive Care Unit at Frenchay Hospital, Bristol. He is in a stable condition and his level of sedation is being reduced. Whilst his vertebral damage remains serious, he has not suffered a brain injury. His wife Caroline and family very much appreciate all the messages, cards and letters that have been received. There will be no further update this week.”

Issued jointly by Dr Adrian McGoldrick, Irish Turf Club Senior Medical Officer and Lisa Hancock, CEO, Injured Jockeys Fund on behalf of the McNamara Family.
 
Ardross said:
It is a very good article but this bit sent my eyes to the roof

You watched on Thursday afternoon, in the moments before the Kim Muir, as McCoy found a quiet spot in the weigh-room and sank deep into conversation with JP McManus' racing manager Frank Berry, the left arm of his green and gold silks spattered with the blood of Get Me Out Of Here which burst a blood vessel in the previous race.

With Russell unavailable, McCoy knew there was an opening to ride Sir Des Champs in the Gold Cup and, naturally, he was desperate to secure it. To do so he needed McManus' Sunnyhillboy not to run and you didn't need to be an expert in lip-reading to understand the nature of his discussion with Berry. From McCoy this wasn't ruthless or insensitive behaviour. If it had been the other way around, he knew, someone else would profit from his bad luck. It is how a relentlessly tough business has always worked.


Unless he was earwigging or was an expert in lip reading - might they have been discussing how GMOOH was going before he bled - and did he bleed at Christmas:blink:
Click to expand...

I :rolleyes: at that error, the blood was from Cantlow. Nowt to do with GMOOH at all.
 
chroniclandlord said:
Martin Dwyer has received a 56 day ban from the Indian authorities. The ban runs from April 6th to May 31st.
Click to expand...

After last year's disgraceful reciprocation with this authority that fails to sign up to the International Racing Agreement will the BHA really uphold this ban . I suspect there are grounds for Dwyer to have hope - even the panel last year accepted that they should not reciprocate if the decision was so unreasonable no reasonable authority could make it .
 
Diamond Geezer said:
Latest news on JT

JT McNamara remains in the Intensive Care Unit at Frenchay Hospital, Bristol. He is in a stable condition and his level of sedation is being reduced. Whilst his vertebral damage remains serious, he has not suffered a brain injury. His wife Caroline and family very much appreciate all the messages, cards and letters that have been received. There will be no further update this week.”

Issued jointly by Dr Adrian McGoldrick, Irish Turf Club Senior Medical Officer and Lisa Hancock, CEO, Injured Jockeys Fund on behalf of the McNamara Family.
Click to expand...

Lord bless him
 
From the Irish Independent:

22 March 2013
JOCKEY JT McNamara, who suffered severe injuries to his neck during a fall at the Cheltenham festival, has regained consciousness.

The popular Limerickman remains at Frenchay Hospital in Bristol where he was airlifted to after falling from his ride, Galaxy Rock, at the first fence at Prestbury Park last Thursday.

McNamara (37) is continuing to battle bravely against neck injuries and has emerged from an induced coma following surgery. His wife, Caroline, and brother, Aonghus, are at his bedside. Uncle Andrew McNamara said his nephew "is conscious and he is more or less breathing independently".
The McNamara family, who live in Croom, Co Limerick, said they were deeply appreciative of the support and prayers offered.
Click to expand...
 
That is good to hear most especially that he could be breathing independently. Its a start and a positive one - lets hope that further progress is equally good. Was talking to one of the Cheltenham stewards who said JP McManus was doing everything he could to help financially.
 
J T McNamara remains in a stable condition in hospital. He is now fully alert but requires full time ventilation. In due course he will be transferred to the National Spinal Unit at The Mater Hospital, Dublin, where he will be closer to his family
 
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Not good news re J T I am afraid

JT McNamara is reported to be in a "very positive" frame of mind despite suffering a serious neck injury which resulted in paralysis at the Cheltenham Festival.
The 37-year-old amateur was injured following a fall in the Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup and had to be airlifted to Bristol, where he remains, although plans are to be made for a transfer to Dublin in due course.
A statement has been issued jointly by Dr Adrian McGoldrick, Irish Turf Club Senior Medical Officer, and Lisa Hancock, CEO, Injured Jockeys Fund, on behalf of the McNamara family.
It read: "JT McNamara remains in the Frenchay Hospital, Bristol. Whilst he suffered a serious neck injury resulting in paralysis, he has made progress in the last week and is in a very positive frame of mind.
"He is greatly appreciative of the many messages, cards and letters received and also wishes to thank the Frenchay Hospital, who are looking after him so well."

Hopefully he can take heart from the likes of Andy Stewart's son who managed to make some sort of recovery, but it's a long road ahead.
 
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Davy Rusell been advised that the British authorities will not let him ride at Aintree, following his Cheltenham fall.
 
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