Sitting on the sideline is not easy to take

At least I have the distraction of writing this week"s column from the relative comfort of a hospital bed following an exchange with a young horse in the yard a few weeks ago. I lifted his leg to whip off a loose shoe and he swung me around and that pulled a disc out in my back. I soldiered on bravely until last week, but when I went to a funeral in Wexford I spent about seven hours in the car and when I got back I wasn"t able to move too well. I was even worse at Fairyhouse on Wednesday last and by Thursday I was in big trouble, I couldn"t even get out of bed. I was admitted to hospital in Dublin after that, but at this stage I"m definitely on the mend, hopefully I will be back in action later this week. On Saturday, instead of going to Navan races, I was reminded of an incident which took place at Fairyhouse 25 years ago when I saw the Irish Field column, 'Times Past" and the fact that I made the headlines for all the wrong reasons. Back in 1983 I made an error with a lead cloth on a horse called Southern Music which won a race that was the final leg of the jackpot as far as I can remember. There was a big jackpot that day and when I was walking out of the weighroom some man took a swing at me, I think he was of the opinion that I did it on purpose as another horse of mine, Fane Ranger, which finished second in the race, was subsequently promoted to first after Southern Music was disqualified. I suppose I"m a bit like Aran Concerto now, there"s no point in trying to rush me back into action, I just need time, but I missed the Moyglare dinner and I missed the HRI awards on Monday, it was a bad week, in one sense. I was delighted that Dave Fox was recognised for his contribution to the industry. Dave is now the chief valet and he looks after all the jockeys, he provides all the equipment that they need, he will be at the racecourse ahead of the jockeys and he will also be there cleaning everything long after the last race is over. He would keep an eye on some of the lads, he would keep some of them on the straight and narrow and would offer advice when it"s needed. He actually provides an invaluable service and it"s a very demanding job, which, for the most part, goes totally unrecognised by the majority of racegoers. It has been mentioned to me in recent weeks about the prospects of a woman becoming champion trainer and I suppose the obvious candidate would be Jessie Harrington, a Meath woman. She is enjoying a good run at the moment, I think she is in third place behind myself and Willie Mullins, but there"s no reason why she couldn"t win the title. Hopefully, I"ll win it back again this season, but it won"t be easy. I couldn"t get to Navan races on Saturday, but I might as well have been there as I did so much checking on everything, even from my hospital bed, the lads back in the yard would probably have an easier time if I was out and about as I wouldn"t be on the phone to them every few minutes or so, but it"s in situations like this that the value of the team of staff that I have certainly pays off. I was impressed with Oscar Looby in the first race at Navan, he had to battle for the victory, but he beat a good horse in Zaarito and I mentioned in last week"s column that I would be hoping to avoid Colm Murphy"s horse. Colm took Zaarito out of the race at Fairyhouse last Wednesday and I was actually hoping he would run him there, but it all worked out in our favour, on this occasion. Looby fell the last day at Fairyhouse, but he is a very good horse and hopefully he will go on from here and win a few more races now. I also had a newcomer in the bumper, Tonto Murphy, he stays well and finished third on Saturday, he will be a nice horse when he goes jumping, he might win a bumper, with a bit of luck. Harchibald didn"t go to Wetherby for the Fighting Fifth hurdle on Saturday, but it wasn"t down to the weather completely, he worked last week and I wasn"t happy with him, he was little bit flat and we decided not to run him. He might go to Cheltenham on Saturday, depending on two things, how he works later this week and the going. We can delay a decision until Thursday or so. If Arlington House can get into a maiden hurdle at Gowran on Friday he would have a decent chance, he will improve as he gets older and stronger. Piper"s Knowe might go in a novice hurdle, he has been hobdayed (wind operation) and hasn"t run for some time, but he might re-appear. Atriptothelocal, if he runs in a maiden hurdle, is a bit one-paced and would be more of a chaser than a hurdler. Fairyhouse next Saturday will be busy for us and I"m hopeful that Judge Deed will run, he ran well behind Bridge Run the last day and should come on a bit from that outing. Jaamid is also in a chase at Fairyhouse and should make his mark over fences. I intend to run Pandorama in the Barry and Sandra Kelly Memorial Hurdle at Navan on Sunday, I have Donna"s Palm in the race also as a precaution, in case Pandorama doesn"t go, but it"s more likely that Donna"s Palm will go in a four-year-old hurdle. I suppose a lot of people are already planning their Christmas racing schedule with Leopardstown, perhaps, on the agenda. I"m aiming to run Aran Concerto, but he was sore above his hock the last day, we"ve had X-rays taken and we are adopting a very careful approach with him. There is nothing serious amiss, but hopefully he will be fit for action, the same could be said about his trainer. Afistfullofdollars is another potential runner, but he is a bit like a China cup (he chips very easy) and everytime he is ready to run, something else seems to happen to him. He was lame a while back, but now he is sound and should be ready to run at Christmas. On a separate matter, I am astounded, amazed and even annoyed that Colm O"Rourke didn"t make it on to Meath"s greatest team which has been selected over the last 15 weeks in the Meath Chronicle. Not only should he be on the team, he should be the captain of the team, he is the best player ever to wear a Meath jersey, I don"t think any other player or supporter in the county would disagree with that sentiment. It"s a total scandal, whatever way that poll worked, that Colm wasn"t picked, it just doesn"t make sense, it"s a total shambles how something like this could happen. Colm O"Rourke was the best player ever to line out for Meath. Visit Noel Meade"s website: www.noelmeade.com