Ruby Walsh: Ultimate iron man Kennedy possesses power to rebound like no other
Tough Jack Break: Absence Racing Champion Another Lengthy Pic: Kennedy Faces Healy Jockey
Many people will remember the last day of November in 2024 for various reasons, and some won't remember it all, allowing it to slip from their minds like any other mundane day of the week.
For Jack Kennedy, it was a day he will not forget, no matter what he achieves. Last Saturday will be etched into his brain forever, allowed to fall into the back of his mind as time heels his leg, and he begins to see the future again, but the present and the past will have hurt him last week.
The emotional trauma of how he felt as he lay behind the last fence at Fairyhouse, instantly knowing he had broken his leg, staring at the roof of the ambulance en route to Blanchardstown Hospital and glaring at the ceiling in the A&E unit are complex emotions to forget.
He won't have looked left or right; he won't have engaged with anyone trying to help him because anger, frustration, and disappointment take over, pushing you to the point where you want to be alone, to cry into the pillow and search for the answer to a question no one can answer: Why me?
The rationale doesn’t come into the mindsight of anybody whose mental pain outweighs the physical, and seven days later, there is no doubt he realises he is not Graham Lee, Shane Broderick, JT McNamara, Robbie Mc, or so many more who got knocked down but couldn’t stand up again.
For every great day this sport gives us, someone has paid a life-changing price. It happens in every sport where risk is taken, but the risk is the draw, and that risk will suck Jack Kennedy back into it. A 25-year-old man who possesses the power to rebound like no one I have ever known or met.
He is the ultimate iron man, maybe not physically, but certainly where it counts most: Between his ears. He will be back, and the sport will be all the better for it, but the only solace Jack would get right now would be something or anything that would force racing to shut down.
Anything that would mean he doesn’t have to miss what he dreams of: Winning on good horses. Sadly for Jack, he must watch on from the sidelines as the racing train speeds towards Christmas, stopping this weekend for the two-mile chasers to dazzle us.
I watched Kauto Star, Twist Magic, and Master Minded twice, winning Tingle Creeks from my kitchen, the foyer of a hotel in Hong Kong with Pat Smullen, outside the Cryo Unit in Whites Hotel in Wexford and from a commentary position because of injury.
I won four and could have won four more, or even five if you listen to Paul Nicholls, who will argue that I should have won another on Azertyuiop , but hey ho, life moves on, and today will provide another great renewal.
Rachael Blackmore will have the honour of watching one she could be riding today when Darragh O’Keeffe bounces Quilixios from the start in an attempt to jump his rivals ragged and drag Jonbon, Edwardstone, and their five other rivals around Esher’s beautiful chase course at a speed close to 50kmph.
The seven fences in a line along the back straight, parallel to the train line, are as exciting as it gets for a jockey, but I think by the time they turn to the Pond Fence, which is three from home, Jonbon will have exerted his superiority on the race and will be making a winning challenge to record back-to-back wins in the contest.
JP McManus will have watched his Down Memory Lane try to overturn L’Eau du Sud in Henry VIII before he watches Jonbon. Still, the fact that Gordon Elliot is sending two novice chasers here is a bonus for Sandown but a potential negative for Irish racing.
I am all for encouraging competition, but how you do that is key to the sport's overall health, and we haven’t nailed too many progressive steps of late.
JP could be in for a very good day with some nice runners at Navan, where plenty of potential stardust is lining up, but only time will tell if that dust rises to catch your eye or settles into oblivion, and we move on without notice. The most likely riser is The Yellow Clay, who has won well on his two starts this season and will be looking to book himself a slot in the Lawlor’s Hotel novice hurdle in the early new year.
Navan has reached its quota of runners for the day, set by its number of stables, so 136 horses are set to enter Proudstown Park, a healthy number and very good compared to Aintree and Sandown together at 118 or Chepstow and Wetherby United at 135.
Tomorrow afternoon, Cork will take centre stage, and the Hilly Way Chase has attracted a decent field, with competitive numbers declared in most supporting races.
Willie Mullins entered six and will run them all in the feature, with Energumene topping a stellar list that includes Ferny Hollow, Dinoblue, Blue Lord, and Appreciate It, who face Banbridge in what looks like a decent renewal.
Energumene has achieved more than his rivals in his career and looks to have retained a lot of his old spark, so fingers crossed he shows it to the Cork racegoers.