Glad to be part of great festival occasion even though out of luck

It was a fantastic week for the Irish at Cheltenham and I really enjoyed being part of the occasion, even though I failed to get on the scoreboard myself. Irish-trained horses and Irish-born jockeys dominated, and it was good to see so many of the leading owners, who pour so much investment into the game, enjoying success. The four days proved there is a great depth to the quality of horses in the top Irish yards at the moment.

I had three rides at the meeting, and I guess the one that attracted the most attention was Edwulf for Joseph O’Brien in the National Hunt Chase. I dearly wanted to want to win this one, all the more so on account of it being named in honour of John Thomas McNamara, and Edwulf gave me a great ride for most of the way. Then, as we jumped the last in second, although without much hope of catching Lisa O’Neill on Tiger Roll, I suddenly felt the horse weaken under me. He staggered and it was immediately obvious he wasn’t going to recover his action. I pulled him up and he collapsed.

It was an agonising time for the connections. All the O’Brien family were quickly on the scene along with JP McManus. There must have been half a dozen vets in attendance, and they were of the opinion he had run out of oxygen and was suffering from palpitations. As efforts to treat him continued, a good many racegoers came down to find out if there was any news. I chatted to a number of them, and it struck me how they were so genuinely concerned. They were as thrilled as all the connections when Edwulf began to revive. The good news is that he’s safely back at home with Joseph. He seems in good shape again, but will have to undergo tests to see if there is any underlying problem.