'It did me the world of good' - Barry Brennan bounces back after training break

Monday: Plumpton

Trainer Barry Brennan stressed the importance of taking mental health breaks, having nearly quit the training ranks earlier this year, after he ended a long losing drought when Dolly McQueen won the 2m selling hurdle.

Lambourn-based Brennan, who has six horses in training, ended a 351-day barren spell without success when the five-year-old was a four-length winner at the Sussex track.

After the mare's victory, the trainer urged anyone within the sport to prioritise their mental health having been at a low point during the Covid-19 pandemic earlier this year.

He said: "I took a couple of months break in the summer from the end of July to September to take stock of things. It did me the world of good as well as the horses I have there. I recommend that to everybody, just take a break.

"Mental wellbeing comes with everybody involved, not just the staff and the jockeys, but trainers as well because we're under a lot of pressure too.

"It's been very tough and at one point I considered packing in, but the owners I've got with me told me to descale and plug on. It did me the world of good."

Dolly McQueen's win was a welcome change in fortune at Plumpton too for Brennan, whose mare Daraz Legacy suffered a fatal injury at the track last month.

"This is the ups and downs of racing. Driving here it was a little bit frightening thinking we might drive back with an empty box again," he added. "To go from that to having a winner puts everything into perspective. I'm over the moon."

Landmark success

Conditional jockey Jack Wildman celebrated his first professional winner in Britain when he guided the Emma Lavelle-trained Light N Strike to victory in the 2m1f handicap chase.

Welcome winners

Chris Gordon and Tom Cannon landed a welcome double on the card with Annual Invictus in the opening 2m3½f novice handicap chase and Top Man in the 3m1f handicap hurdle, having lost Mount Windsor in the Greatwood Hurdle on Sunday.

Results, replays and analysis

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