No Russell amnesty for McCririck

DAVY RUSSELL took a step back from his RSA Chase celebrations yesterday to launch a passionate defence of fellow Irish jockey Brian O’Connell and a scathing attack on Channel 4’s loudmouth pundit John McCririck.

The veteran analyst was critical of Limerick man O’Connell’s ride on Irish Festival banker Dunguib in Tuesday’s opening race, the Supreme Novice’s Hurdle in which the Philip Fenton-trained favourite could only finish third.

The decision to retain O’Connell for the race, despite the fact that he had been on board the year before when Dunguib won the Champion Bumper, had been a hot topic of conversation for a number of months.