Russell, who bowed out from the saddle in December 2022 before briefly returning to race-riding for his long-time ally Gordon Elliott after Jack Kennedy broke his leg the following January, has heaped praise on his dancing coach Kylee Vincent. 

He explained, “I've a brilliant teacher in Kylee. She has an outstanding way of coaxing me into being able to do the dances. I have no step now. I couldn't dance a step if my life depended on it before the show. It's amazing how my coach can turn somebody like me around within the space of a week to be somewhat reasonable at dancing. A lot of the credit goes to her.”

Carberry, widely considered one of the greatest amateur riders of all time, famously won the competition in 2022 after hanging up her saddle four years previously. Russell explained that, while he consulted Carberry before accepting the invitation to take part in the competition, nothing could have prepared him for the amount of work that goes into preparing for each live show. 

He said, “Nina was obviously very supportive of me because not only did she do it but she also won it. The rest of the lads were laughing at me. They thought it would be great craic of a Sunday evening watching me go and make an eejit of myself on National television. 

Thankfully, it's gone the other way around. Now they are tuning in on the Sunday night to see how I get on and to support me. But come here, I was on the same page as them when I started-I'm pleasantly surprised by how it's going but the amount of work that goes on behind the scenes is phenomenal.”

One smoooooth start to the show 20 points for Davy and Kylee! #DWTSIRL pic.twitter.com/w5NpbXuI06

— DWTS Ireland (@DWTSIRL) February 4, 2024

What's making Russell's progression on the reality television series all the more impressive is that the Cork native is balancing practicing along with raising a young family and tending to over 50 horses on his farm.

However, Russell admitted to being put to the pin of his collar at present and is desperately seeking a full-time worker to help out at the burgeoning National Hunt breeding and pinhooking operation.

“It's very hard at the moment,” he said. “I have great help at home but it's not easy. This week took its toll because Edelle [Russell's wife] was away and I am down a member of staff on the farm. I'm actually in dire need of somebody coming on board. 

“We've 15 broodmares on the farm. All of them bar one are National Hunt-bred. On top of the 15 mares, we have their progeny coming through-foals, yearlings, two-year-olds and three-year-olds so we've well over 50 horses here. It's a full-time job in itself.”

He added, “I had somebody working with me and they let me down. It seems to be a common theme in the industry at the moment. Nobody seems to have any regard for anyone and staff seem to just jump around. It's very hard to get somebody to stay in the one place. That's my experience anyway. I would love if somebody came to me and wanted to get involved in the place. Whether that was buying into a mare or pinhooking foals along with working here full-time, I don't know. I'd be open to whatever. Like, if I was getting a few quid on something, I'd love to see the person working for me get a few quid as well. So, I'm open to anything really.”

Russell's Whitebarn Stud has enjoyed some decent paydays in recent times but few will top last year's result at the Tattersalls Ireland Derby Sale when a Cima de Triomphe (Ire) gelding who was bought for just €5,500 on behalf of his kids rocked into €54,000 at the premier store sale. 

He reflected, “I had a great year. A lot of that would be down to Peter Vaughan of Moanmore Stables. I do a lot of work with Peter. My kids had an excellent year as well. They sold a Cima de Triomphe gelding for €54,000. They started off with two cows and we put them in calf. Out of that, Peter bought them a yearling and they sold him and got a few quid but nothing major, just a couple of grand profit. I gave €5,500 for the Cima de Triomphe horse for them in Osarus in France and then they got €54,000 for him at the Tattersalls Ireland Derby Sale last year so they were over the moon with that.”

Russell has also dipped his toe in the breeze-up game from time to time through his association with the Vaughans but it was a certain Siyouni (Fr) filly by the name of Expressiy (Fr) who gave him one of his most memorable results in that sphere back in 2017 when selling for €260,000 at Arqana. 

“I am involved in the breeze-ups but my involvement doesn't extend beyond being an investor. Peter and Patrick Vaughan do all the work with the breeze-up horses. We bought a Bolt d'Oro horse in America last year and he seems to be going quite well. I had a lovely Not This Time horse last year but we just about wiped our nose with him at the Dubai Breeze-Up Sale.”

He added, “It's very funny actually, I got a great touch with a Siyouni filly at Arqana a few years ago. I was heading out for a beginners' chase on a 10-1 shot at Kilbeggan as the filly was going through the ring. Lorcan Wyer [clerk of the course] was telling me to get a move on but, as this filly was rocking into €200,000, I told him I wasn't going anywhere. 

“She made €260,000 in the end. I had her with John Cullinan and I really enjoyed the experience. The filly [Expressiy] turned out to be okay, too, as she went and got black-type for Godolphin. I got down to post in time for the beginners' chase on Burndown (Ire) (Presenting {Ire}) and, while he could only finish third, it ended up being an enjoyable day!”

The decorated rider, who partnered his first winner 25 years ago and will forever be associated with horses like Tiger Roll, Weapon's Amnesty and more, can be backed at 10-1 to win the competition outright. However, the aim is a simple one heading into this Sunday's performance: don't mess up. 

“I just don't want to f*** up,” Russell said. “I built my career on that mindset. I used to go to Cheltenham with one thing on my mind and that was to not f*** up. The only way of doing that is by putting in the work but it's a lot of work to do. 

“I have an awful problem learning the steps and then, when I learn the steps, I then have to put it to music and then you have to have your facial expressions ready as well. To do all of that in six days and then to walk out live on television and bang, get it out in one go, it's not easy.”

He added, “All of my life, nothing ever made me nervous. Riding any horse in any of those big races never made me nervous. But the show two weeks ago, I have never felt nerves like that. I was shaking like a leaf. Maybe it was stepping into the unknown that made me nervous, I don't know. Thankfully this week was a bit more comfortable and I am starting to enjoy it now.”

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The bevy of racing, sports and TV stars already confirmed for the event include David and Paudie Clifford, Rachael Blackmore, Ursula Jacob, Paul McGrath, Miriam O'Callaghan, Michael Duignan, Kevin Manning, Willie McCreery, Barry Geraghty, Marty Morrissey and Joanne O'Riordan are among those set to lend a hand as selectors, commentators, side-line officials, umpires and maor uisce. For the complete rundown of competitors, click here.

Gates open at 4:30 p.m. with pre-match entertainment and refreshments before throw-in at 6pm.

Tickets costing €10 for adults and €15 for families are currently on sale at www.HurlingForCancer.ie. Tickets will also be on sale at the gate on the night and car parking at Netwatch Cullen Park will be free.

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Organised annually by leading trainer Jim Bolger and former champion jockey Davy Russell, the event allows sports fans to rub shoulders with household names from the world of horse racing, GAA, soccer and boxing along with a host of celebrities.

To date, the Hurling for Cancer Research has raised over €1.3 million providing funding for life changing research.

Claire Kilty, Acting Head of Research for the Irish Cancer Society, said: “The generous donations raised through Hurling For Cancer Research supports us to fund over 100 cancer researchers all across the country. Thanks to research advances in areas such as early detection, clinical trials and cancer survivorship, people with cancer are living for longer, and survival rates are continuing to improve, bringing us closer to a future where nobody in Ireland dies from this disease.”

To purchase your individual (€10) or family (€15) ticket online or to make a donation direct to Hurling for Cancer Research, please visit www.hurlingforcancer.ie.

All funds from the sale of tickets and donations will go directly toward funding vital cancer research.

For queries, please contact Irish Cancer Society Community Fundraiser Emma Hayden: ehayden@irishcancer.ie

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It was with wearying predictability in the countdown to Saturday's Grand National that we witnessed the pink t-shirted protestors attempting to scale the perimeter fences of Aintree. A few glued themselves to fences in the manner that some of their cohort have been holding up traffic in London and the M25 over the years. It gains the perpetrators the desired but fleeting media coverage, perhaps a criminal record, but absolutely no sympathy for their cause. And what is the cause for those that descended on Aintree on Saturday? It certainly is not animal welfare.

Trainer Sandy Thomson, in an an understandably emotional outburst after the death of his runner Hill Sixteen (GB), believed that their actions contributed directly to a heightened atmosphere that had the field more on edge than usual. The following morning, in more measured fashion, Davy Russell, who fell at the first on Galvin (Ire), effectively reiterated this feeling when saying on Luck on Sunday, “I'm not sure that the people who protested yesterday realised the damage they were doing…the experience they were laying upon the horse was unnecessary, and the experience they were laying on the trainers and the jockeys.”

It is hard to disagree with two men whose lives have been hewn from their experience of working with Thoroughbreds. And one only had to listen to the various members of Animal Rising who were given airtime on television screens in Britain in the build-up to the Grand National to realise that this is a woefully ill-informed organisation when it comes to horse racing. So where do we go from here?

It is clear that the Grand National will have to undergo further modifications, most likely this time in the reduction of the field size and perhaps a shortened run to the first fence. Reducing the field from 40 had been dismissed by horsemen in a previous review of the race, which, between 2013 and 2021, after the new fences had been introduced, saw the fatality rate reduced to 1.12%, compared to 2.8% between 1993 and 2003. To put that into context, the overall fatality rate in British horse racing is 0.21% from around 90,000 runners. In jump racing alone that figure is 0.43%.

Clearly, the £40 million spent by British racing on veterinary research over the last 20 years, along with regular reviews and liaison with the RSPCA and World Horse Welfare, is having some effect. Equally clearly, though, is that it will never be enough for those protesting against the Grand National who won't be satisfied until it (and horse racing in general) is banned.

While racing can field well informed commentators of the ilk of Kevin Blake and Richard Hoiles to speak on television and radio channels, their intelligent reasoning is set alongside those allowed to spout half-truths and lies. No amount of fact sheets from the racing industry will ever change the minds of those who are intent on not giving an inch. And no matter how many positive tweets of happy horses we post, we cannot hide from the fact that a very small number of horses will die when racing, on the Flat and over jumps. That, in a world increasingly at odds with the realities of encountering animals on a regular basis, is hard for many people to accept.

Without the Grand National I wouldn't be working in racing. Unless you're born into a racing family, the chances are there will have been a grandfather who loved a bet, or a family trip to the races that sparked a passion for the sport that at times, certainly in the case of this writer, can border on obsession. I was lucky to be alive for the golden era of Red Rum, when his fame was such that he transcended the sports pages and encouraged pony-mad children to take an interest in racing.

The Grand National of Red Rum's days is almost unrecognisable in comparison to today. Though some within the sport had rued the changes made following a major safety review, when those changes kicked in with no fatalities for the first six years, it seemed that we were going the right way. We are, mostly, but the most telling factor following this year's race is how many people who love racing were publicly stating that they turned away from the race. 

It was indeed hard and unpleasant to watch: a complete debacle from the start, rather than a display of sporting prowess. How much of that can be attributed to the delay and subsequent rushed start is hard to say. A personal view is that the protestors and the organisers must take equal blame for each of those deeply undesirable situations. 

In Britain, horse racing is beset with problems, from a lack of prize-money to threats from a government gambling review (the two not unrelated) and it would be easy to feel that what amounts to a few hundred protesters is the least of our worries, but it is not.

When racing dominates the Sunday papers and a British race reaches the news channels as far afield as Australia for all the wrong reasons, it is time to look again at how we can seek to ensure that the pendulum between the Grand National being our most famous horse race and also one of the biggest threats to the sport's future swings in our favour. Reducing the field to 30 runners or fewer would be a start.

In Praise of Davy Russell

With apologies for this week's epistle being dominated by the theme of jump racing, one further note is required on the retirement of Davy Russell. Though he did not bow out, as Sam Waley-Cohen did last year, with victory in the Grand National, Russell did notch two further Grade 1 victories at Aintree last week to bring the curtain down on a glorious career in some style.

Russell is not just one of the finest jump jockeys of his era, but also one of the sport's most sensible voices. His loss from the front line will be immense, as few jockeys speak in such an informative manner while maintaining a deep sense of modesty. 

Two memories of Russell speak to his decency beyond his talent in the saddle. In the 2011 Grand National, when he had parted company with Beacuseicouldntsee at the second fence and Jason Maguire had crossed the line in triumph aboard Ballabriggs, it wasn't Maguire to be found throwing buckets of water over the winning horse in the aftermath but Russell, who had obviously noted that the horse required attention while many of those around him were celebrating.

Furthermore, at an ITBA seminar some years ago, Russell made an impassioned plea from the back of the room during a debate on the expansion of the National Hunt race programme for mares. As always, he was measured in his view while urging for a situation similar to what has indeed transpired in the intervening years.

Sensible man, great jockey. Godspeed, Davy Russell, but don't be a stranger. Racing needs you.

Classics Ahoy!

While the picture for the French Classics grew ever more intriguing with some doughty performances from Blue Rose Cen (Fr) (Churchill {Ire}), American Flag (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) and Flight Leader (GB) (Frankel {GB}) in Longchamp's muddy trials on Sunday, the round of British trials gets underway this week at Newmarket and Newbury.

The ball is already rolling in Japan, where the win of Liberty Island (Jpn) (Duramente Jpn}) in the GI Oka Sho (1,000 Guineas) was followed on Sunday with success for Sol Oriens (Jpn) (Kitasan Black {Jpn}) in the GI Satsuki Sho (2,000 Guineas). I've learned to my cost to double-check that last name after I type it, as my computer has an irritating habit of auto-correcting Satsuki to satsuma.

The JRA Horse of the Year in 2016 and 2017, Kitasan Black has already been lauded as the sire of Equinox (Jpn) and, as a Japanese St Leger winner, is flying the flag for all those stallions here who win over a similar distance and are consigned immediately to the jumps ranks. In fact, when you look at the pedigree of Sol Oriens, it makes a convincing argument for middle-distance class and guarantees that, if he is good enough, he will certainly see out the next two legs of the Japanese Triple Crown. As well as having a Leger-winning sire, his first two dams are by the Derby winners Motivator (GB) and Quest For Fame (GB).

There is a linking theme between Saturday's Grand National winner Corach Rambler (Ire) and Sunday's Satsuki Sho winner Sol Oriens, and that is Wind In Her Hair (Ire) (Alzao). The great mare, who lives in retirement at Northern Horse Park at the age of 32, appears in the third generation of both horses through her son Deep Impact (Jpn), grandsire of Sol Oriens, and her daughter Glint In Her Eye (Arazi), who is the dam of Corach Rambler's late sire Jeremy. The latter, a son of Danehill Dancer (Ire), won the G3 Jersey S. and G2 Celebration Mile for American owner Betty Moran, who tasted Grand National success of her own with the Ted Walsh-trained Papillon (Ire) in 2000.

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Kennedy broke his leg for a fifth time in a fall from Top Bandit at Naas on Sunday, leaving Elliott without an established number one with the major spring festivals just over the horizon.

That led to growing speculation that Russell, who called time on his glittering career when bowing out on Elliott's Liberty Dance at Thurles less than a month ago, would make a shock return.

In a statement released late on Wednesday evening, the 43-year-old confirmed that he would return to the saddle to help his old ally and friend Elliott while Kennedy is on the sidelines.

He said, “After meeting with Gordon today, I have decided to come out of retirement and ride for the short period while Jack is on the sidelines.”

The legendary jockey, most famous for his association with dual Grand National hero Tiger Roll (Ire) (Authorized {Ire}), added, “It's only been a matter of weeks since I retired, and I actually rode more out this morning than I have in many years.

“We are a close team in Cullentra and after what happened last weekend, I want to help the team through a difficult few weeks. The plan is to resume riding in Fairyhouse on Saturday and Punchestown on Sunday.”

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Russell will forever be remembered for partnering Elliott's Tiger Roll to successive Grand National triumphs in 2018 and 2019. Like those momentous days at Aintree, Russell signed off from the saddle with his customary wave aboard the Elliott-trained Liberty Dance in the Billy Harney Memorial Irish EBF Mares' Novice Hurdle.

The most successful jockey of all time who was still active in the weighroom, Russell earned a reputation as being one of the finest riders at Cheltenham, evident when he guided Jim Culloty's Lord Windermere to Gold Cup success in 2014.

Close friend Elliott supplied the majority of Russell's Cheltenham winners and the Cullentra House-based trainer heaped praise on the rider following his decision to retire on the spot at Thurles.

Elliott said,  “The feedback he gave has always been invaluable. He has been a big part of the team here at Cullentra for the last 10 or 12 years–and he is still going to be part of the team. He's still going to have an involvement. Hopefully we will work closely with him, on what level we are just not quite sure yet, but he will still have something to do with it.”

He added, “He has been a big part of my team since I started training and he has been a friend as well as a colleague. I rode with him as an amateur. He has been as much a friend as anything else. He is a brilliant jockey and a great person. I'm sad to see him retiring but delighted to see him going out on his own terms.

“He's a brilliant jockey and a great horseman. He could do things on horses that other people couldn't. There was never anything wrong with the bottle. The body slowed down, but the bottle was 100 per cent and so it is very sad to see him go.

“He has brilliant hands and transmitted confidence to a horse, and you only have to look at what he has achieved to see what a great jockey he was. He was brilliant.”

Multiple Cheltenham festival and Grand National-winning rider Barry Geraghty shared the weigh room with Russell for the majority of his career and labelled him “a brilliant competitor and a brilliant jockey.”

Geraghty said, “He was as tough as nails in every sense, to ride against but also coming back from the injuries he's had to deal with.

“His CV speaks for itself, two Grand Nationals, a Gold Cup, multiple Cheltenham winners. He's been a multiple champion jockey in Ireland and a brilliant, brilliant jockey for years. It's great to see him finish on such a good note and he's definitely proved the longevity in him.”

Meanwhile, Byrnes, who Russell rode Solwhit and Weapon's Amnesty to major big-race victories for, described himself as “shocked” that the 43-year-old decided to call time on a wonderful career. 

Byrnes said, “I'm delighted he is getting out in one piece, but shocked because as far as I could see he's riding as well, if not better, than ever. He is getting out on his own terms and as far as I'm concerned, he'd probably be the greatest of all time–but I'd be slightly biased.

“That's my opinion. He had an unbelievable pair of hands to get a horse to settle, to get a horse jumping. You could nearly say whether a horse was going to win or not by jumping the first hurdle with him.

“You knew the flow and the rhythm he was in. He was an absolute genius. He worked hard, he deserved everything he's got–he worked hard all his life.”

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• Jordan Gainford – Wall of Fame – Fairyhouse Easter Early Bird H. Hurdle – Fairyhouse, Jan. 9.
• Siobhan Rutledge – Atavique – BoyleSports Irish EBF Ulster Oaks Fillies H. – Down Royal, June 18
• Mark Walsh – A Great View – Conway Piling H. Hurdle – Punchestown, Apr. 28
• Billy Lee – Treasure Trove – G3 Heider Family Stables Round Tower S. — the Curragh, Aug. 27
• Liam McKenna – Tudor City – Guinness Galway Hurdle H. – Galway, July 28
• Wayne Lordan – Waterville – Friends Of The Curragh Irish Cesarewitch – the Curragh, Sept. 25

Awards will also be presented in nine other categories: Horse of the Year, Emerging Talent Award, National Hunt Award, National Hunt Achievement Award, Flat Award, Flat Achievement Award, Point-to-Point Award, Contribution to the Industry and Irish Racing Hero Award. For more details and to vote, please go to the HRI's website.

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Featuring on the list of auction items are yard visits with many of Ireland's leading trainers, including Johnny Murtagh, Tracey Collins, Ger Lyons, Henry de Bromhead and Conor O'Dwyer. The auction also offers chances to bid on a VIP trip to Longines Irish Champions Weekend, luxury overnight stays at Lyrath Estate Hotel and Mount Juliet, a coursewalk with Davy Russell, and a boat trip on the Shannon with the inimitable Ronnie O'Leary.

The full list of auction items can be viewed at www.galabid.com/hurlingforcancer.

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