Ruby Walsh: Jack de Bromhead was a real diamond

Jack was everything his family said about him this week: Funny, friendly, kind, and loyal to his family

Jack de Bromhead with his father Henry. He had so many friends because he included everyone, the magnet that pulls large clusters together. 

The world isn’t even or fair, and recent events in the real world, including those outside of the insular bubble of horse racing, have proven that in the most brutally imaginable way.

From Tallaght to Rossbeigh beach, too many people with the world at their feet left us last weekend. There are no words to describe those losses, but the sadness is more significant because of the youthful age of all involved.

I know Henry de Bromhead the trainer, but I got to know Jack because of his interaction with my kids. They rarely competed against each other but often holidayed in the same Irish village. Swimming in the bay in Dunmore East or jumping from the rocks at the Badgers Cove, Jack, Mia and Georgia de Bromhead were like otters in the water, fearless and curious. The beauty of youth.

Their willingness to include and join with those around allowed me to say more than just ‘hello’ to them or ask some polite questions like how their ponies were.

I got to know three beautiful children, including a curious boy who wanted to know everything he thought I did about riding racehorses, firing random questions at me as I emerged from eight feet of water or shivered on an Irish summer’s day.

That boy was everything his family said about him this week: Funny, friendly, kind, and loyal to his family as he glanced about in the water for his sisters, like an extra parent.

He had so many friends because he included everyone, the magnet that pulls large clusters together with the patience to wait and help those too small to keep up. A diamond.

Dermot Weld set for a super Saturday

Longines Irish Champions Weekend is the showcase meeting for Flat racing in Ireland. The quality of the next two days trumps all that goes before or comes after on these shores, just as it was designed to do.

However, Garth Brooks playing across the city is unlikely to boost attendances, with every event competing against each other as people decide where to spend the small amount of extra disposable income they might have.

Inflation and the rising costs of simply living mean choices are being made, and the piggyback effect of one gig leading people to another has disappeared for the time being.

Thankfully, the athletes who will contest the 16 races at Leopardstown and The Curragh put on to make this weekend will know nothing about how much their feed bills have risen in recent months.

From 1.30pm Saturday until 5.22pm-ish Sunday, the action on the track won’t be affected by what happens at the turnstiles or in the enclosures.

The meetings are designed for quality to trump quantity, but four competitive handicaps divided equally into two each afternoon give those who prefer cryptic puzzles something to figure out.

I wish those who try to pick the winners of such contests the best of luck, but I will focus on the other 12 battles, hoping that selecting the best horse equals the winner.

This has been a slow year for Dermot Weld’s Rosewell House, with 16 winners on the board since March, but six of those have come in the last fortnight suggesting the engines have eventually ignited.

Homeless Songs, who runs in today’s Matron Stakes, is, without doubt, one of the most exciting fillies or even horses in training right now and her Guineas rout back in May left a deep impression on most people.

She thumped subsequent Oaks heroine Tuesday and she can overcome an awkward draw in stall two to spearhead what could be a magical day for DK Weld.

Kayhana, in the opener, and Duke De Sessa, in the Paddy Power Stakes, at 3.10pm, could get the Rosewell train rolling, bolstering Chris Hayes’s confidence because things might not be straightforward on Homeless Songs. Stall two on a filly who generally races from behind midfield will put her down the inside, behind rivals, and waiting for gaps.

Saffron Beach will go forward from stall eight, and Tenebrism will go for the box seat behind her from stall one. Every decision Chris makes will have to be correct, but confidence makes those calls easier because you don’t overthink it, you just react.

Baaeed’s absence from the Champion Stakes is noted but has created a deep race with two English, two French, and three  Aidan O'Brien-trained runners. Vadeni and Luxembourg are the two I hope to see fighting the finish out, hoping that one or maybe both could stay in training for a four-year-old campaign.

Stars draw attention to the sport and, with Baaeed almost finished, a new one is needed. Vadeni looked the obvious one when winning the Eclipse.

Jadoomi can give British fans something to cheer about by collecting the Boomerang Mile, but Great Britain is in mourning and British racing has lost one of its most incredible supporters.

Tower Of London would be a fitting winner of the Juvenile Stakes, coinciding with the sad passing of Her Majesty the Queen, a lady I will always be proud to say I met and even prouder of the fact that she knew I had broken my neck three weeks earlier in Killarney when we did meet. May she rest in peace.

Sunday’s action moves down the M7 to the Curragh, and La Petite Coco should carry her Pretty Polly Group 1 penalty to victory in the Blandford Stakes before Romantic Proposal bounces back in the Flying Five.

Meditate and Tahiyra will square off in the Moyglare. Even if Aidan O’Brien, trainer of the former, loses out there, Aesop’s Fable (National Stakes) should steady the ship ahead of Kyprios’s bid to emulate his sister, Search For A Song, by winning an Irish St Leger. He is the perfect four from four this season, and I don’t have any worries about the drop in the trip.