
.jpg)
.jpg)
Two of the best apprentices in Sydney in recent years were the Berry twin brothers, Nathan and Tommy, two men about whom I have never heard a bad word, and two riders who seamlessly moved on from being successful apprentices to successful jockeys. This year started very well for Nathan, aged 23. In January he won the Magic Millions Classic at the Gold Coast on Unencumbered (who ran in the Golden Slipper today) and in the first week of February he married Glyn Schofield's daughter Whitney. Another very happy day for him was 16th March, when he watched Tommy (whose big wins include last season's Group One Metropolitan at Randwick for Gai Waterhouse on the former Henry Cecil-trained Glencadam Gold) ride Designs On Rome to win the Hong Kong Derby.

At Cheltenham last month, Ruby Walsh ruffled a few feathers among the more unthinking elements of the chattering classes by observing, after the sickening fatal fall of Our Conor in the Champion Hurdle, that, very, very sad though this was, at least only the horse had been killed in a sickening-looking fall, and the jockey had survived. He observed that a horse is replaceable, but a human isn't. Ruby was hounded in some quarters for saying this, but what his critics managed to overlook was that what he said is true - as Nathan Berry's death has so starkly reminded us.
.jpg)
However, the fact is that, if you love animals, you are always going to have them around, notwithstanding the sorrow which they will inevitably bring. When you lose a pet whom you love, whether that is a dog, cat or horse, at the time you feel that the world has stopped turning. However, if you love animals, you will get another in time, even if it takes a few weeks, months or even years before you are ready for the replacement. When my last dog Alice was run over a few years ago, I thought that I could never replace her. However, a couple of years later I got Gus and, while Alice was Alice and Gus is Gus, in his own curious and different way he is as special as she was, and he has filled the hole left in my heart by her passing. And if I live to be, say, 60, at some point I'll bury him, and the bottom of my world will fall out once again - and then, a few months or years later, I'll replace him, and the whole roller-coaster of joy and sorrow will begin once again.
However, humans can't be replaced. If a 23-year-old jockey dies, his parents can't go out and get another son to replace him. Nathan Berry's parents can't replace him, and Tommy Berry can't get another brother. The young children of Simone Montgomery (who was killed in a fall in Darwin earlier this season) can't get another mother. That's the way it is - and if anyone can't grasp that, then they are either astonishingly insensitive or just plain stupid. And that's the way it is in every context: if a landmine goes off in Afghanistan and kills three soldiers, the BBC reports that tragedy, but doesn't mention the five goats grazing beside the road who were also killed, notwithstanding that they were lovely goats whom someone loved and are now dead.
Let's hope that there are no deaths at Aintree today, human or equine. We've had enough tragedy for one week. Enough tears have already been shed in the past few days, and are still being shed as I type this, without anyone else having to suffer the heartbreak of bidding farewell to a relative, friend or animal whom they love.
3 comments:
A truly insightful and touching essay John.
Thank you for these words of wisdom.
A lovely piece, well written. I wonder how many animal activists were disappointed that there were no fatalities in the Grand National again this year? How many of them would be aware that in Co. Kildare on the very same day a beautiful horse perished in his own stable? Azamour, a gorgeous stallion and a brilliant racehorse was fatally injured in the comfort and safety of his own state of the art box having been lovingly cared for, day in day out, by his adoring lads. Are they aware (or prepared to admit) that horses die every day in their own stables and paddocks? I guess such an admission would not advance their cause.
Had to read this twice beautifully written agree totally that for whatever reason the death of an animal can be personally more heart rending than the death of a person
RP's words are also very true one feels that the national is a focal point for those who would do away with racing and any issues which happen there are more grist to their collective mills
Post a Comment