If there’s any justice, Russell’s moment has surely arrived
I doubt too many will begrudge him the honour of joining fellow Corkman, Paul Townend, who finished on top last season.
Russell has enjoyed a great campaign, with many high-class Gigginstown House Stud-owned horses to call upon.
This morning his number of winner stands at 99 and he is a virtual certainty to hit the magical 100 mark, at least. Charles Byrnes is the trainer who has provided him with the most winners, 13. His strike rate is an impressive 20%.
He is currently 18 clear of Ruby Walsh and it will be a remarkable performance on the part of the former champion if he can close that gap between now and April 28.
I suppose it is not totally beyond the bounds of possibility and Willie Mullins will be liberally represented for the three days at Fairyhouse and the five days at Punchestown. But it is a particularly tall order and almost certainly an impossible task.
If Russell does win the championship then it will be reward for some hard graft, over a number of years.
I never saw him riding in point-to-points, but he emerged from that game with a massive reputation.
Then I used to watch him on television in action in the north of England for Ferdy Murphy and wondered what all the fuss was about.
Truth to tell he looked fairly ordinary, but the facts were that he was essentially aboard poor horses and having to push, shove and cajole such beasts would make even Piggott look less than the real article.
That was never going to work out and returning home to get his career back on track was the smartest move he ever made.
Now, over a number of years, we have come to realise why he excited so many of the point-to-point experts and there is a style and swagger about his riding which sees him mentioned in the same breath as the likes of Walsh, McCoy and Geraghty. Mind you, there are times when Russell must have despaired of ever being champion jockey.
For instance, he has been runner-up for the last five seasons. From 2007 to 2010, he was second to Ruby Walsh and last year to Townend.
No matter how successful your career, I think any jockey will want to be champion at least once, it is the icing on the cake. If there’s any justice, Russell’s moment has surely arrived.
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Girls like Katie Walsh and Nina Carberry don’t come around too often, but noting Jane Mangan winning the bumper on Tommy Stack’s Piper Hill at Thurles on Thursday, you’d have to be forgiven for thinking that here’s a kid who is going to prove more than capable of holding her own against the best.
It is never very wise going overboard about anyone in the early part of their career, but there is simply no denying that she is a talented pilot, who is currently getting rave reviews.
Watching her, however, and reminiscing on what has gone before, doesn’t half make one feel at least a tad on the old side. For years I covered her father, Jimmy, riding in point-to-points. But we can even go back much further than that. One of the first Thyestes Chases at Gowan Park I ever covered was in 1981, contest won by June’s Friend.
That mare was, of course, owned and trained by Jimmy’s father, Paddy, and cropped up at 25-1. She was ridden by Jackie Cullen and first prize was £5,736. Ah well, at least we’re still on the right side of 50!
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Michael Hourigan may never return to the great days of Doran Pride and Beef Or Salmon — don’t tell him I said that — but it is nice to see the warhorse banging in the winners of late.
He was on what could be best described as the cold list for quite a while, but two at Limerick on Sunday and two more at Thurles on Tuesday indicated that here is a yard which is very much back on song.
It never ceases to amaze that, when your luck turns, how everything just seems to fall into place.
Hourigan’s two at Thurles didn’t half emphasise the point. Shifa broke down going to two out, handing a beginners’ chase to Hourigan’s Awkward Moment.
And when his Dizzy Rascal, who would break the heart in any man, got the best of a sustained duel with hot-pot Shrapnel in a maiden hurdle. then you just knew that, perhaps, now was really a good time to go out and purchase some lottery tickets as well.
