Inside Track: There’s a lot worse than backing a loser

We punters take a lot for granted. We read the list of runners in the papers, or on a screen in the bookies. We look to see who’s riding what and which trainers have runners.

We make our selection and then lay out our dough If we stay in the bookies we can see every race on television, not only those in this country, or the UK, but also France, South Africa, and the USA. And if we have the right station, we can see action from Australia throughout the night.

When the one we backed is booted home a winner, the jockey is a hero. It could be the same jockey who’s aboard when we back a loser a week later, and now he/she’s a wrong one – “Couldn’t ride a bike.”

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Do we ever consider the danger this same jockey is exposed to, especially, but not solely, when riding over jumps? Not at all.

Yes, we might let out a gasp if a horse comes down, and think of the worst when the screens go up, but if the one we’re on is out in front and goes on to win, well, that’s all that really matters.

Those who backed the winner of a ‘chase at a meeting in Thurles recently would have been pleased with themselves, maybe full of praise for the jockey aboard.

The mood, however, would have changed when the medical people gathered around the fence where three horses had fallen, and grown darker when word came out that one of the jockeys had been badly injured.

The news got worse. The stricken jockey, Michael O’Sullivan, having been critical in a Cork hospital for a number of days, died without regaining consciousness. The racing world was in mourning, many paying tribute to the young man for his riding skills and good manners.

A rider of huge promise, the 24-year-old wasn’t the first to die as a result of racecourse fall, and, sadly, won’t be the last.

In my youth I remember the anguish there was when Manny Mercer, a bother of Classic-winning jockey Joe, died after being thrown from his mount at the start of a Flat race at Ascot.

Since the turn into this century, five Irish jockeys have been killed on course, or, in the case of 13-year-old Jack De Bromhead, three years ago, pony riding on the beach.

Horse riding is a dangerous game – for every race that’s run, two ambulances have to be in close attendance. It sits alongside car and motorbike racing, and boxing.

Around the time of Michael O’Sullivan’s death, boxer John Cooney, who has relatives living in Dundalk, succumbed to an injury he sustained in a professional fight.

So, whenever we back a horse, we shouldn’t forget the danger inherent in race riding. There’s an awful lot worse than backing a loser.