Had a ten minute chat with him one day at Cheltenham-he was a great guy to talk to -the Lee Mottershead comment is spot on.
Had a ten minute chat with him one day at Cheltenham-he was a great guy to talk to -the Lee Mottershead comment is spot on.
A smashing guy, he gave us a lecture in 1989 in UCD and always seemed to recognise my face whenever we met after .
Day 2 of Cheltenham 2011 I asked him for the best handicapped Irish horse that day.
"Carlito Brigante " he replied. Having just taken him off my docket on the basis the Irish could not win every race I got that sinking feeling, well before Carlito p@@@ed up , costing me a fortune by my standards, having had three winners up.
i could never hold it against him though; I shall miss him.
Rest in Peace.
an capall (19th December 2017), chroniclandlord (19th December 2017), granger (19th December 2017), Grasshopper (19th December 2017), Grey (19th December 2017)
Grasshopper (19th December 2017)
Very sad news about Noel O'Brien.
RIP
A P McCoy just posted on Twitter to say his mother has passed away this evening.
My dear old Dad sadly passed away 3 weeks ago after a long battle with Parkinsons, and while I can understand many on here thinking where does he fit in with "Racing People" well actually I think he did have a fair impact in his way.
He was one of the veterinary team at the Cheltenham Festival in the 70s and 80s in the days when there were only 3 of them! One in the paddock, one on the "bridge" (the stands) and one following the runners in a car. You can imagine what a stressful job it was! Invariably when a horse fell and lay stricken, he would have the stewards over the radios telling him to "get that effing horse off the course!" whereas Dad would be giving it the benefit of probably being winded and testing it to see if there was anything serious such as spinal or shoulder damage. He also remembered having the inject the mighty Sea Pigeon after one of his Champion Hurdle wins and giving oxygen to Combs Ditch.
He and his long departed colleague, John Yates, compiled accident reports religiously even before it was compulsory and they were adamant that the notorious open ditches which in those days caused some horrific falls had a design fault. They reasoned that horses were colour blind and so in the dull March light, the grey boards merged into the dull grass so the horse was being deceived into thinking the fence was at least 18 inches smaller than it actually was so causing the horse to fall. Often horses that were very good jumpers would be caught out in this manner. However the Jockey Club weren't remotely interested in their research at the time. I remember too, Derek Thompson wailing one year about the open ditches on air, so I wrote to him. Seems off-air he wasn't bothered! Eventually when I was doing the trainer's modules at the British Racing School back in 1999, I spoke to Peter Webbon who was the Chief Vet at the Jockey Club (BHA as I think it was by then) and he actually listened and acted upon it. Now ALL open ditches have a complete bright orange board rather than an orange rail sitting on top of a grey one. The style of fall at these obstacles has now changed and they aren't nearly the feared jumps they used to be. They also campaigned to get the third last re-sited after it caused some fatal falls at the Festival in the 80s.
tu ne cede malis, sed contra audentior ito
archie (8th January 2018), Beef or Salmon (7th January 2018), edgt (7th January 2018), NewApproach (7th January 2018), Outsider (8th January 2018), Perpetual (8th January 2018)
Sorry for your loss Jinnyj,sounds a smashing bloke your dad.RIP.
Sorry for your loss Jinny, very interesting read and without doubt deserves to be mentioned here.
Sorry for your loss A very interesting read and a reminder of the great work that goes on behind the scenes that makes possible the sport we all love
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Sorry to hear about your dad Jinny.
He seems well deserving of a mention on this thread.
RIP
Sorry to hear about your dad jinny-parkinsons is terrible -my grandfather had it and my fathers patience with him was amazing.
I thinks Combs Ditch got oxygen several times.
Condolences from me, too, jinny. And a big, belated thank you to both you and your dad for doing so much to improve horse safety...
Condolences from me as well, Jinny.
Ah! but a man's reach should exceed his grasp......
So sorry to hear about this, Jinny. Hope you are bearing-up OK.
That's a great - if bitter-sweet - story.
Last edited by Grasshopper; 7th January 2018 at 4:06 PM.
"Beat the price and lose. It's what we do".
SlimChance, March 2018
God bless Jinny
Last edited by granger; 7th January 2018 at 4:13 PM.
Some people say he’s the best since Arkle and that’s certainly true when you look at what he’s done
So sorry for your loss jinnyj, your dad sounds like a lovely man.
Sorry for your loss,Jinny.
Very sorry for your loss Jinny
So sorry for your loss Jinny but a lovely write up. Best wishes to you and your family.
Alcohol, because no good story ever started with "I was eating this salad..."
Great tribute to a sound sound man.
Sympathies to you and your family.
Rest in Peace.