Ruby Walsh: Kennedy living proof that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger
INJURY BLOW: Injured jockey Jack Kennedy. Pic: Healy Racing
The publishing of entries for the grade 1 races at the Dublin Racing Festival last Thursday brought the mid-January blues to a quick halt. Alas, there is excitement on the horizon, unfortunately not for Jack Kennedy, who will endure another spring faking a smile and pretending he is happy for the team. His heart will creak, and his mind will summersault about what could have been had he not been so unlucky again. That’s all it boils do in the end because Jack, like me, is made of lighter bone than some of his colleagues, and that’s just nature.
He can’t alter his skeleton shape or makeup; he can keep it healthy and mind it and he has long since shown, even at 23 years of age, that he has the mental fortitude to deal with bad luck and once again, he will dig deep into his iceberg-like mindset and motivate himself to return to where he was last Sunday morning before he broke his leg that afternoon. His skill and competitive nature aboard a horse are a joy to behold, but it pails behind his ability to deal with the muck life throws at people. As a parent, I often tell my girls that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, and Jack Kennedy is living proof of that old fable.
