Limerick Honours JT McNamara
JT McNamara, the superb amateur rider who was paralysed after falling badly at the 2013 Cheltenham Festival (an injury that led to his eventual death in July of this year) is to be honoured by Limerick Racecourse.
The Munster National, which this year takes place on October 9th, will be renamed as the JT McNamara Munster National in memory of the much-loved and respected jockey.
“John Thomas McNamara and the Munster National are two names which are synonymous with horse racing in Limerick. John Thomas, a native of Croom, County Limerick will forever be fondly renowned as one of the greatest horsemen of all time after his passing in July.”, said Conor O’Neill, general manager at Limerick.
Echoing a sentiment that everyone involved in racing will agree with, he continued by saying “A highly regarded and well-respected amateur jockey, John Thomas was a man with a phenomenal talent which he combined with extraordinary determination and incredible bravery to enjoy success at the highest levels.”.
JT won over 600 races in his career, including the Diamond Jubilee National Hunt Chase in 2012.
Gordon Finally Gets Her Nose In Front
Josephine Gordon has sensationally taken the lead, in this year’s Apprentice Jockeys Championship!
She was on-board Stormflower, who ran on gamely to hold-off a strong challenge from Archie Stevens at Goodwood on Wednesday.
She then landed the spoils with the Sir Prancelot-sired debutant Tamayef, following a terrific duel with Trooper’s Gold (Newcastle, Friday).
Her latest win came at the expense of another jockey whose career has skyrocketed, in 2016. Jim Crowley was riding Thomas Blossom, but Fine Resolve found too much for them and it was this victory that finally put Gordon ahead of her rival Tom Marquand.
After dominating the race for most of the campaign, Marquand seems to have hit a wall and he has not won a race since September 12th. Changes to his licence mean that he will not be able to add to his score for the final 6 days of the season (ends October 15th), so Gordon is now very-much in the box-seat.
Gordon now has 43 wins under her belt, compared to Marquand’s 42. Adam McNamara has 35. In the Flat Jockeys Championship, Jim Crowley has a solid-looking lead over Silvestre de Sousa. Crowley has won 122 races, to de Sousa’s 116.
