Geraghty not shocked by Russell’s decision to call temporary halt on retirement

Simon Milham
January 13, 2023 12:58 pm

‘That is a reflection of knowing the beast, if you like’.

Davy Russell has the opportunity to find closure after coming out of retirement that lasted barely a month.

That is the view of two-time Irish champion jockey and the second winning-most rider at the Cheltenham Festival, Barry Geraghty.

Russell confirmed in a statement on Wednesday evening that he will return this weekend to fill the void left at Gordon Elliott’s powerful Cullentra House operation with Jack Kennedy sidelined.

Chosen Mate was Davy Russell’s 25th Cheltenham Festival winner in 2020. He will have the chance of adding to that tally after announcing he is returning to the saddle 👇
📰 @_Davy_Russel_ | @gelliott_racing
— Racing TV (@RacingTV) January 11, 2023

Kennedy broke his leg when falling from Top Bandit at Naas on Sunday, leaving Elliott without his number one rider, with Russell having retired on the spot following a winner at Thurles on December 18.

And Geraghty, whose own retirement from the saddle came in July 2020 after a glittering career that saw him win all the major Cheltenham Festival races at least twice, was not shocked by Russell’s about-turn, even if it is a temporary one.

“I wasn’t surprised,” said Geraghty. “My wife said to me when I told her last night that Davy was coming back, she said it was the first thing I’d said after I got a text on Sunday evening saying what Jack had done. That is a reflection of knowing the beast, if you like.

“When you have a chance to ride those good horses at Cheltenham, it is worth doing if you are Davy.

“He is 43 and has been through the wars, but he did catch a lot of people by surprise retiring when he did, mid-season, because it is a bit like a footballer retiring mid-season. It would be as if Ronaldo retired and then a position became available.

“At least there’s closure at the end of the season and there is a certain level of time before the good racing gets back, and you get to detox a little bit.

“I thought it was a very good chance it would happen and I’m not surprised at all. Davy is very driven and there is still ambition there, and it probably wasn’t being fulfilled.

“That was possibly why he retired more than anything else.”

Had Geraghty, who also won the Grand National aboard Monty’s Pass and partnered Kicking King to two King George VI Chase wins, any such thoughts of returning to the saddle once he had announced his retirement?

“No is the simple answer. I had prepared for it,” he said. “Davy’s was mid-season, so I don’t know where his thoughts were. But I was preparing for it.

“I was at the start of the King George in 2019, my last year. Sam Twiston-Davies and myself were scrimmaging down at the start for the position of second, down the rail, behind the pace.

Solwhit and Davy Russell (left) beat Punjabi and Barry Geraghty in the Garde One Rabobank Hurdle at Punchestown in 2009 (Damien Eagers/PA)

“Sam was pleading with me to give him the spot, and I said, ‘No Sam, I can’t, this could be my last one’. So I knew where I was, and I wasn’t just playing games with him.

“We are all different. I knew. I didn’t announce my retirement at Cheltenham, I came away from Cheltenham a week later and I’m thinking, ‘This is too easy, I’ve not had a great Cheltenham’.

“Two weeks later, I knew this was the right time.”

Barry Geraghty rode 43 Cheltenham Festival winners (Andrew Matthews/PA)

Unlike some riders, Geraghty is thankful that he went out on his own terms and cited Richard Dunwoody, who was forced to retire though a long-term neck injury when at the peak of his powers in 1999.

“Everyone needs a certain level of closure,” said Geraghty. “I don’t think Woody got it when he had his injury and I don’t think Davy has necessarily got what he wants.

“He has gone back again and the opportunity arose. I’m not saying it is the right thing to do. It is a personal choice.

“But if he didn’t, with all those good horses, how would he feel Cheltenham week watching on?”