Eric Cantona, Trevor Brennan, Roy Keane, Graham Geraghty and Paul Carberry. All supremely gifted sportsmen, yet each as enigmatic as the last. So much so that managing their quirks became the most pivotal component in making their genius flourish.
They all thought Sean (Boylan) was mad making Graham Meath captain. It ended up being his best year in a Meath jersey. Roy Keane was the most successful captain in Manchester United’s history – and should currently be their manager.
Trevor was the most unvalued, insulted player in Irish rugby for far too long. All because his face didn’t fit. And Carberry, with veins of ice and balls of steel, was quite simply the most gifted speciman the one seeing eye here ever saw atop horse flesh.
Yet if I had €5 for every time these ears were sullied with “(Noel) Meade should get rid of that lad, he’s more trouble than he’s worth” I’d have enough dosh to have a horse in training in Tu Va!
It recalls that episode of The Simpsons where Marge is gone off her rocker and Police Chief Wiggum is left to muse “Why are the pretty ones always insane”?
I’d say Kieran Shoemark understands tonight. Except for him it would be why do the deposed always need an excuse? Or more to the point, scapegoat. What’s wrong with simply admitting your opponent – be they human or equine – was just too good for you on the day?
Then, to make it worse, for some reason, racing pundits have form for asking the most inappropriate questions at the most ridiculous of times. You might recall somebody asking the late, great Peter Casey what he thought of his former stable star Flemenstar having his first run for his new trainer. “I hope he stands on the spot and does a big shite” came the expected yet glorious response!
Now, I know nothing about Kieran Shoemark or have never even heard the lad speak, other than my own calculation that anybody trying to fill the small yet flamboyant boots of Lanfranco Dettori was on a hiding to nothing. If you partner a heap of winners, you’re supposed to, if you don’t, you’re not up to the job.
It would appear John and Thady Gosden have taken Option B. How often do you see it that a son is given a stake in or takes over the father’s business and makes a hames of it? Glazer family, I’m looking at you. For context here, the Gosden operation this week defenestrated with the services of Kieran Shoemark as retained rider. Deploying the Group 1 cop-out of “Using the best available” as if to add insult to the injury the deposed rider’s character and confidence.
Now, Stevie Wonder could nearly see through the smokescreen of what’s really clouding things here – ‘Our horse got beaten in the 2000 Guineas, but rather than admit the horse simply wasn’t good enough, we’ll hang the jockey out to dry’. No such thing as admitting that the horse may just have been beaten by a better rival on the day. Not even an acknowledgement that getting within a half a length of winning a Classic and thus bagging £112,875 in prize money was no mean feat in itself and something a lot of people would take your hand off for.
But, when you think you’re better than you are but time and eventualities prove otherwise, sure it has to be somebody else’s fault. Hence how we have seen the likes of Gigginstown House Stud and Barry Connell and the Mulryans hire retained riders only to drop them like hot coals as soon as a couple of results went against them. Though in fairness to Mick O’Leary, he had the gumption to go back to Davy Russell and Bryan Cooper when he needed them. It’s not everybody that can or will admit they’re wrong.
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