Racing Mourns the Passing of “True Genius” Eddery
While there hasn’t been too much action to look back over in racing this week, there was the news of the sad passing of Pat Eddery. The former champion Jockey died on Tuesday, and that saw an outpouring of compliments from some of the sport’s biggest stars.
After riding over 4,600 winners and winning 14 classics in his 36 year career, the Irishman is rightly regarded as one of the greats of the sport. Only one man has ridden more winners in Britain than him, showing just how successful his long career was. After retiring in 2003, he was awarded an OBE just two years later. After hearing the news, AP McCoy tweeted that Eddery was a “true genius in the saddle”.
The highlight of the weekend’s racing came at Sandown, as Coneygree picked up a victory that will serve as the perfect warm up for his run in the Hennessey Cup later this month. The eight-year-old is currently unbeaten over fences, and will be widely expected to succeed at Newbury. Nico de Boinville took him to a 25 length win, finishing ahead of Seventh Sky and Southfield Theatre.
He’s certainly been doing well after winning the Gold Cup at Cheltenham this year, and victory in the Hennessey Cup would round out a fantastic few months for him and trainer Mark Bradstock. The 2015 Gold Cup winner is already being priced up at 7/1 to take the prize at the Cheltenham Festival next year, and on current form he should be among the contenders. With names already starting to be tipped for success at Cheltenham, you know that the Festival is starting to gain pace. Right now, it’s just over four months away.
