THERE was amazing action wherever you looked last weekend – but domestically it was all about Regional for Ed Bethell.
His awesome win in the Betfair Sprint Cup at Haydock on Saturday was richly deserved for a man who took over Thorngill Stables in Middleham from father James only at the start of 2021.
Ed’s sister Jess tragically died aged 24 – no one deserved big-race success more than he did
Now he has confirmed himself as one of Britain’s brightest training prospects.
Not much was said afterwards about Ed’s late sister Jessica, but I have no doubt she was massively in the family’s mind.
Jessica would have been the proudest girl in the world if she had been able to be at Haydock.
For those of you who don’t know, Jessica Bethell died of meningitis on 1st October 2012.
The Bethells left home around 9am that day, kissing Jessica goodbye, as she came in from riding out.
She said: “I’ve got a bad headache, mum.”
Those were the last words she spoke. She had died by 6pm that evening.
The Jessica Bethell Foundation was set up – https://www.jessicabethellfoundation.co.uk/ – and much money has been raised to try and prevent others suffering the same fate.
For the Bethell family the pain lives on. It will never go.
But Ed’s achievement will have eased that agony a little. And somewhere Jessica will have been shouting Regional home louder than anyone else. R.I.P. Jessica.
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Meanwhile, two Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winners from Keeneland who caught the eye over the weekend could be heading in very different directions over the coming weeks for Aidan O’Brien.
Meditate and Victoria Road will have both gone into many notebooks at Leopardstown on Saturday.
Meditate, the 2022 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies’ Turf winner, might well bid for glory in November’s Breeders’ Cup Fillies’ and Mares’ Turf at Santa Anita, while Victoria Road – the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile hero – could coincidentally actually head to Victoria, Melbourne, for the Cox Plate.
Nothing is set in stone, but that is what O’Brien is considering right now.
Meditate was never close enough to challenge Tahiyra in the Matron, but stayed on powerfully to suggest she will be taking some stopping in the near future over a little further.
Saxon Warrior offspring Victoria Road was in a similar position behind Flight Plan in a Group 2.
It’s exciting that O’Brien is back in the Melbourne mix after a few baron years. A Cox Plate challenge would be fascinating.
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