When any of the racing family goes down - be it Aga Khan or a young Irish jockey - the tribe gathers and holds out hopes, prayers, comfort, and some reflection of our humanity. Yesterday, as we were all thinking kindly of The Aga Khan and his astonishing contributions to both the racing and bloodstock industries and of some of his marvellous horses, the G1 winning jockey, Mikey O’Sullivan, suffered a horrific fall at the last during the second race at Thurles when riding WEE CHARLIE. He was casevaced out to Cork University Hospital and is currently in their ICU. This is a horrible reminder of how brave all jockeys are and that, unlike perhaps F1 car construction, there is no protective shell to save a jockey from the impact of a ½ ton horse landing on one. Mikey won the 2023 Supreme Novices' Hurdle aboard Marine Nationale, while he also enjoyed more Cheltenham Festival success that year on Jazzy Matty in the Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle. My prayers go to him and his family.
Meanwhile, in the commercial long grass of racing’s outer field, there is a definite sense that something is slithering around and causing trouble. Let me start by giving you some background to what appears to be a PR attack on the Tote.
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