15th February 2021

Having been on the hill for the later part of last week, for a change on a Monday we cantered many horses quietly around the sand. 

Luck On Sunday has always been a favorite of mine, quite often,I will listen to it in the car later in the week but yesterday I witnessed, as it happened Davy Russell politely telling Bruce Millington to f*** off. It was fantastic, I always struggled with Bruce Millington as the editor of the Racing Post as he quite often appeared to enjoy shooting the industry in the foot. I have no problem with fair and honest reporting but putting spins on things is grossly unfair on those on the receiving end. Davy is not going to forgive him for what he wrote and was true to himself, those boys from Cork never forget, Eamonn is testament to that. Many others would have just towed the line and answered the question put to him. I hope Ryan Moore saw it and plays a similar card when needed. It was gold television and will never be forgotten in the age of social media. Interestingly enough, social media was a “talking point” jockeys receiving abuse seemed to be the focus. I guess jockeys are younger and more vulnerable than most trainers who also get targeted. From an observation point of view only, trainers seem to get overlooked time after time, maybe for the aforementioned reasons. I’m sure some struggle with what they receive more so than others. Quite often trainers will retweet or post on other social media sites the abusive messages they have been sent. I choose not to do that. Some of the messages I receive are simply not suitable for reposting and I’m sure the perpetrator is gleeful when others reaction. Incidentally, if some of the jockeys lost a little of their ego they may find that they too could ignore them. I can’t recall hearing or seeing Richard Johnson complain or repost a single abusive message. He gets them too as I’ve been tagged in them. Fueling the fire is not the way to stamp this out. 

Isn’t it great to see some crowds back at the cricket in India even though it hasn’t gone our way this time. The Indians certainly know how to prepare a pitch and have utilized the home advantage.

Velasco and Eastern head to Catterick tomorrow, to read my thoughts click here.