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Shocker, asleep from 4 out to 2 out.
PS. And never had a bet in the race.
PS. And never had a bet in the race.
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Not having a good week, despite some decent horses.
Wonder if you lose something mentally (probably not physically) when you go through the retirement process?
Wonder if you lose something mentally (probably not physically) when you go through the retirement process?
Horse caught him out, he was going well but didn't pick up when he thought he would, hanging and staying on late.
On that run he looks like a 3 miler, it was a bit like Gerri yesterday, but that hanging is a problem.
On that run he looks like a 3 miler, it was a bit like Gerri yesterday, but that hanging is a problem.
Usually how it works is they get mugged off on here and they win the next race so let’s test this out.
The guy is utter rubbish…washed up has been. Should be in a retirement home.
The guy is utter rubbish…washed up has been. Should be in a retirement home.
At least Russell can say his horse was hanging really badly. What's Townend's excuse? He rode an even dozier race on Appreciate It.
Winner deserves credit - got the tactics just right. Front runners have a great record over C & D.
AI was in the wrong race pure and simple, it was funny after the Irish Arkle that both he and Banbridge were talked of by different people that they wanted to go up in trip, you could see it with Banbridge as he looked like the classic type, outpaced stayed on, but AI travelled through that race well but just wasn't good enough.
On reflection Mullins will be kicking himself that Sir Gerhard didn't run in the Turners.
On reflection Mullins will be kicking himself that Sir Gerhard didn't run in the Turners.
Davy - he leans in all the time, don’t understand what happened, finished really well. I can’t put my finger on it.
The wnr won that quite well in the end.
Mighty Potter never looked like winning,to me.
Made a mistake late on but was already done.
Mighty Potter never looked like winning,to me.
Made a mistake late on but was already done.
i suppose with the novices irish jocks dont worry if a couple of english horses are in front of them,
i summise its oleary having a pop at russell in his itv interview,but what was lucky saying about russell having his say about oleary this morning,cant see anything on here
i summise its oleary having a pop at russell in his itv interview,but what was lucky saying about russell having his say about oleary this morning,cant see anything on here
3 out, horse winged it and then he took and pull just as the pace quickened. Should've been where Wedge was
Not good. i think this time he was racking the wrong horse ie fav when the race was going swimmingly well for those at the front.
not sure what im reading here...it was 2-3L down jumping 3 out on the snaff..he shook it up and it found nil.
Terrible ride on Maxxum, cantering but never put in the race, presented the horse poorly at the final two obstacles. Horse had no chance after that.
Maxxum was pulling double, you have to say major jockey error as didn't attack 3 or 2 out when going best and lost complete momentum at the last flight
Once again though, the winner deserves great credit. He was pretty much last at the second last. What a ride that young man gave him!
Cmon, Russell shouldnt be riding, injured and too old, he would have been winning these races comfortably pre injury.
Cant back any elliot horses atm, he doesnt have a decent jockey riding his horses with kennedy out and davy finished.
Davy Russel of old would have been right down the inside on Maxxun.
And another shocker, why did he switch going to the last.
Mar 16, 2023 -- 4:37PM, in hell wrote:
And another shocker, why did he switch going to the last.
Dashel Drasher has clearly crossed in front of him hence the switch
Russell finished as I said earlier, its obvious he is struggling. At least Elliot won with his no hoper 
Haven't seen the head on but if he did get 'done' then the second and third places should be reversed
Mar 16, 2023 -- 4:38PM, pandora1963 wrote:
He looked like a sack of spuds riding that finish
You've got to be talking about Dingle surely?
in hell 16 Mar 23 15:37
And another shocker, why did he switch going to the last.
jussed pi$$ed mesell.
And another shocker, why did he switch going to the last.
jussed pi$$ed mesell.
Been awhile since I seen Davy Blowing that heavy after a race. Does not seem himself.
in hell 16 Mar 23 15:37
And another shocker, why did he switch going to the last.
jussed pi$$ed mesell.
On the run to the last he was on the other side of Dashel, switched it. Could've got a bus up the inside of it
Go change yer p1ssed pants
And another shocker, why did he switch going to the last.
jussed pi$$ed mesell.
On the run to the last he was on the other side of Dashel, switched it. Could've got a bus up the inside of it
Go change yer p1ssed pants
Mar 16, 2023 -- 4:41PM, MJK wrote:
Haven't seen the head on but if he did get 'done' then the second and third places should be reversed
As expected. Dingle is shocking.
in hell 16 Mar 23 15:37
And another shocker, why did he switch going to the last.
he was carried left by drashel.
And another shocker, why did he switch going to the last.
he was carried left by drashel.
Think he means before the last switch...he initially switched left before the last
he switched it left a furlong before they reached the last hurdle..had no relevance to being carried left approaching the last.
Coz he had a bad injury and retired saxon, hasnt been the same ever since, he is not riding with the strength we used to associate him with. I was a huge fan of Davy a few seasons ago, but there comes a time when you just cant do iot anymore and should retire.
He is ridng as though he might be carrying a niggling injury though he might have lost muscle, either way he is not the force of old thats apparent to everyone. Or maybe he has gone from a great jockey to a poor one for no reason whatsoever.
He should have stayed retired, nobody would have missed him,the strength of a fly on mighty Potter.
Got to say (yes pocket talking) I've no doubt Kennedy would've got Pied Piper up there
other than mistake at last,nearly falling off and not using or been able to use his whip ,davey did all right there against gina 
Nearly fell off. Oh dear.
Damning statistic:
Had 6 horses go under 6/4 In Running this week........ lost on the lot of them.
Damning statistic:
Had 6 horses go under 6/4 In Running this week........ lost on the lot of them.
1.2x ir, thought it was going to win by a few coming to the last
Backed Sharjah & Pied Piper, should had been first & 2nd.
He's having a Cheltenham to forget. Let's hope he could surprise in the biggie.
A jockey change for Conflated. Russell not riding - Sam Ewing is.
Why is Davey Russell, now, bot riding in the Gold Cup
Pulled Up in the previous race
Has Michael O'Leary had something to say?
Pulled Up in the previous race
Has Michael O'Leary had something to say?
There would have to be a valid reason for change,MOL would not have a say.
Medical Officer stood him down. Hed obviously been watching him.
get the dr to stand you down davey,i dont want you on board your not fit
cant be can it ?
cant be can it ?
stood himself down, didnt look too happy when O'Leary kissed him
Dont say I didnt warn you, glad the Doctor agreed with my diagnosis....
I think that will be the last we'll see him riding in a race. Happy Retirement Mr Russell!
Rumours abound he did a big 'sod you' to O'Leary after his antics against him.
Riding in pain….not good on anyone involved including punters…..imo…
I doubt Davy will ever return to the saddle, he was one of best jockeys of his generation, really hope he enjoys his retirement as he truly deserves it.
Personally couldnt give 2 flying f**** about O,Leary.
Davy is an ignorant man, he was a decent jockey, not as good as he thought he was, but a really horrible person.
basilbrush
I now agree with you! Have a good weekend!
I now agree with you! Have a good weekend!
Listening to Elliott it doesn't sound as though Davy went into much detail when telling him he couldn't ride. 'I'm sore' and that was that. Rightly or wrongly he's left a nagging doubt that that was the case and he just wanted out.
There can clearly be no doubting the nature of Michael O’Leary’s relationship with Davy Russell now
Vincent Hogan
March 16 2023 02:29 PM
There was an icy bite to the otherwise mild Cotswold breeze before racing even began at Cheltenham today as Davy Russell prepared for his final two days in the weighing-room.
Racing is a world with secrets in every corner, most interviews with jockeys a kind of listless drumroll of sycophancy towards the moneyed owners of the horses they ride. Gratitude is gospel.
Candour seldom enters this world for the simple truth that, no matter a jockey’s talent, this is an environment of the starkest hierarchal reality.
Even when Russell was so brutally sacked as number one Gigginstown Stud rider over a cup of tea on New Year’s Eve 2013, he stayed faithful to that truth, remaining studiously diplomatic towards Michael and Eddie O’Leary in all media interviews.
Why? Because a jockey firing bullets at those bank-rolling their sport might as well be striking a match to check the level of petrol in their car.
Russell’s diplomacy made perfect sense. Within three months of his sacking, he was riding Tiger Roll and Savello to Cheltenham victories in Gigginstown’s colours after his replacement, Bryan Cooper, broke his leg in a terrible fall on the Festival Wednesday.
poster
Privately, Russell was said to have been disgusted by the coldness of his dismissal, yet there was simply nothing to be gained by articulating such disgust.
But then time passes and circumstances change.
Given tomorrow will, presumably, be Russell’s last day in the weighing-room, the obligation to toe the line simply no longer applies here. Michael O’Leary’s recent ITV interview with Matt Chapman, questioning Gordon Elliott’s decision to coax a 43-year-old Russell out of retirement to replace the injured Jack Kennedy as his number one jockey at this Festival has, palpably, incensed the Youghal man.
Specifically, O’Leary’s insinuation that a man of Russell’s age should, perhaps, be prioritising family now rather than looking to add to his 25 Festival wins.
Asked to respond this morning, Russell’s words were utterly withering. “I have about as much respect for Michael O’Leary’s opinion as he has for my opinion” he told ITV. “I didn’t see any Father of the Year awards being thrown out yet, but I’m pretty happy with my responsibilities at home.”
Ostensibly, they were remarkable words from a man booked to ride three Gigginstown horses over the closing two days, Fury Road in today’s Ryanair Chase, Search For Glory in tomorrow’s Albert Bartlett and Conflated in tomorrow’s Gold Cup.
But what exactly has Russell to lose?
O’Leary’s notoriously blunt nature would seem a pretty shallow confection now if he chose to remove Elliott’s first choice jockey from any of the above rides and there is little doubt that he will be all smiles and breezy epithets should any of those horses win.
poster
But there can clearly be no doubting the nature of his relationship with Russell now. Or, more specifically, the venom the jockey feels – perhaps has always felt – for the man who sacked him so casually over that cup of tea a decade back.
Russell was just eighteen days retired when Kennedy’s injury persuaded Elliott to call him rather than expose some of the younger talents in his yard to the white heat of Festival pressure.
Pointedly, he stressed yesterday that the decision to come out of retirement came only after close consultation with wife, Edelle. “She was fully behind me” said Russell. “I was off for just eighteen days.”
His demeanour was a galaxy removed from the gentle politesse summoned at this Festival in 2014 when winning those races (Triumph Hurdle and Grand Annual) in maroon silks on Tiger Roll and Savello respectively.
He’d ridden no winners in the opening three days, but then had the Friday of his dreams, also piloting Jim Culloty’s Lord Windermere to a 20/1 win in the Gold Cup.
“It was a special day” he said at the time. “It was very nice to still get the opportunity to ride for Gigginstown but I wouldn’t have been thinking about having to prove anything. I didn’t feel I had to. I was just trying to get rides.”
In time, Russell would also ride Tiger Roll to two storied Grand National victories for Gigginstown, the same, almost studiously bland tone humming through every question exploring his relationship with the O’Learys.
He’d always said that it was easy to “speak plainly” to O’Leary and that the Ryanair boss was an owner whose blunt personality “simplified things”.
But just nine days before his sacking in 2013, in an interview with the Sunday Independent, Russell did offer a glimpse into the ruthlessness plumbed throughout his own psyche. Talking about the anxiety of not performing, he reflected “It is a fear. Could you imagine the devastation if you slipped down the slope?
“I mean, if it happens, it happens and we’ll cope. But it’s a huge motivation to keep going because there’s any number of lads that want to take your place. It’s (the weighing-room) a family, but we’d cut each other’s throats in an act.”
That devastation he spoke so flatly of back then was just days away for Davy Russell, delivered without much discernible care or empathy by the “plain-speaking” O’Leary.
And for the decade since, Russell has broadly remained on message whenever addressing the management style at Gigginstown. But today that diplomacy finally gave way, his words guillotining any illusion of reciprocal respect in the relationship.
Normally a rapacious market for people speaking out both sides of their mouths, Cheltenham accordingly resounded with a strange giddiness.
Given the coldness between these two men has now, patently, metasticised into something bleaker, it felt only natural to wonder about the energies likely to sweep the paddock should Russell win on a Gigginstown horse before Festival-end.
Because any smiles exchanged will now, surely, be only through clenched teeth.
Vincent Hogan
March 16 2023 02:29 PM
There was an icy bite to the otherwise mild Cotswold breeze before racing even began at Cheltenham today as Davy Russell prepared for his final two days in the weighing-room.
Racing is a world with secrets in every corner, most interviews with jockeys a kind of listless drumroll of sycophancy towards the moneyed owners of the horses they ride. Gratitude is gospel.
Candour seldom enters this world for the simple truth that, no matter a jockey’s talent, this is an environment of the starkest hierarchal reality.
Even when Russell was so brutally sacked as number one Gigginstown Stud rider over a cup of tea on New Year’s Eve 2013, he stayed faithful to that truth, remaining studiously diplomatic towards Michael and Eddie O’Leary in all media interviews.
Why? Because a jockey firing bullets at those bank-rolling their sport might as well be striking a match to check the level of petrol in their car.
Russell’s diplomacy made perfect sense. Within three months of his sacking, he was riding Tiger Roll and Savello to Cheltenham victories in Gigginstown’s colours after his replacement, Bryan Cooper, broke his leg in a terrible fall on the Festival Wednesday.
poster
Privately, Russell was said to have been disgusted by the coldness of his dismissal, yet there was simply nothing to be gained by articulating such disgust.
But then time passes and circumstances change.
Given tomorrow will, presumably, be Russell’s last day in the weighing-room, the obligation to toe the line simply no longer applies here. Michael O’Leary’s recent ITV interview with Matt Chapman, questioning Gordon Elliott’s decision to coax a 43-year-old Russell out of retirement to replace the injured Jack Kennedy as his number one jockey at this Festival has, palpably, incensed the Youghal man.
Specifically, O’Leary’s insinuation that a man of Russell’s age should, perhaps, be prioritising family now rather than looking to add to his 25 Festival wins.
Asked to respond this morning, Russell’s words were utterly withering. “I have about as much respect for Michael O’Leary’s opinion as he has for my opinion” he told ITV. “I didn’t see any Father of the Year awards being thrown out yet, but I’m pretty happy with my responsibilities at home.”
Ostensibly, they were remarkable words from a man booked to ride three Gigginstown horses over the closing two days, Fury Road in today’s Ryanair Chase, Search For Glory in tomorrow’s Albert Bartlett and Conflated in tomorrow’s Gold Cup.
But what exactly has Russell to lose?
O’Leary’s notoriously blunt nature would seem a pretty shallow confection now if he chose to remove Elliott’s first choice jockey from any of the above rides and there is little doubt that he will be all smiles and breezy epithets should any of those horses win.
poster
But there can clearly be no doubting the nature of his relationship with Russell now. Or, more specifically, the venom the jockey feels – perhaps has always felt – for the man who sacked him so casually over that cup of tea a decade back.
Russell was just eighteen days retired when Kennedy’s injury persuaded Elliott to call him rather than expose some of the younger talents in his yard to the white heat of Festival pressure.
Pointedly, he stressed yesterday that the decision to come out of retirement came only after close consultation with wife, Edelle. “She was fully behind me” said Russell. “I was off for just eighteen days.”
His demeanour was a galaxy removed from the gentle politesse summoned at this Festival in 2014 when winning those races (Triumph Hurdle and Grand Annual) in maroon silks on Tiger Roll and Savello respectively.
He’d ridden no winners in the opening three days, but then had the Friday of his dreams, also piloting Jim Culloty’s Lord Windermere to a 20/1 win in the Gold Cup.
“It was a special day” he said at the time. “It was very nice to still get the opportunity to ride for Gigginstown but I wouldn’t have been thinking about having to prove anything. I didn’t feel I had to. I was just trying to get rides.”
In time, Russell would also ride Tiger Roll to two storied Grand National victories for Gigginstown, the same, almost studiously bland tone humming through every question exploring his relationship with the O’Learys.
He’d always said that it was easy to “speak plainly” to O’Leary and that the Ryanair boss was an owner whose blunt personality “simplified things”.
But just nine days before his sacking in 2013, in an interview with the Sunday Independent, Russell did offer a glimpse into the ruthlessness plumbed throughout his own psyche. Talking about the anxiety of not performing, he reflected “It is a fear. Could you imagine the devastation if you slipped down the slope?
“I mean, if it happens, it happens and we’ll cope. But it’s a huge motivation to keep going because there’s any number of lads that want to take your place. It’s (the weighing-room) a family, but we’d cut each other’s throats in an act.”
That devastation he spoke so flatly of back then was just days away for Davy Russell, delivered without much discernible care or empathy by the “plain-speaking” O’Leary.
And for the decade since, Russell has broadly remained on message whenever addressing the management style at Gigginstown. But today that diplomacy finally gave way, his words guillotining any illusion of reciprocal respect in the relationship.
Normally a rapacious market for people speaking out both sides of their mouths, Cheltenham accordingly resounded with a strange giddiness.
Given the coldness between these two men has now, patently, metasticised into something bleaker, it felt only natural to wonder about the energies likely to sweep the paddock should Russell win on a Gigginstown horse before Festival-end.
Because any smiles exchanged will now, surely, be only through clenched teeth.
Talk starting to dribble out of Elliott's that it was only on the insistence of some owners that Davy was called up by Elliott, who it is said wanted to use others instead. Also talk that O'Leary told Elliott he didn't want him riding conflated and Russell backed down, citing soreness. There's no doubt Elliott is praying Jack Kennedy is fit to go soon.
Maybe I read O'Leary's comment wrongly but I felt he was intimating that coming back just invited serious injury, his body being older and less able to soak up the knocks, which would be a shame as he had a young family who needed him fit and well. Whatever it was Davy took it ill that's for sure.
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