IN THAT same maudlin but practical manner that media outlets have obituaries in cold storage to produce at a moment’s notice in the event of an elderly individual of significant profile shuffling off this mortal coil, there were racing journalists trying to get ahead of the curve as speculation on the future of Barry Geraghty intensified earlier this year.

In the lead-up to and during the Punchestown Festival, the whisper persisted that a dire run of injuries that read fractured right arm, fractured ribs and collapsed lung, fractured left arm and fractured shoulder was leading to a retirement announcement. Saturday came and went and Geraghty was still rocking up.

What became evident was that Mark Walsh was appearing in the green and gold silks of JP McManus more regularly than the Meathman, who succeeded AP McCoy as the owner’s number one rider when the 20-time champion called it quits in 2015.

Again, speculation was rife that the arrangement had come to an end. And again, there was nothing to it, as illustrated definitively by the habitual midweek cross-channel commutes and some stellar results in the instantly recognisable colours.

Buveur D’Air, Unowhatimeanharry and Defi Du Seuil are just some of the equine royalty he has partnered to victory in the past few weeks, while a number of the latest brigade of McManus recruits appear to have bright prospects.

Back at home, Le Richebourg, Ballyoisin and Sancta Simona have been triumphant with Geraghty in the plate.

At 39, the appetite remains as keen as ever and the skills undimmed.

Buveur D’Air’s Fighting Fifth demolition was the highlight of a treble at Newcastle and having bagged the Long Distance Hurdle at Newbury the day before on Unowhatimeanharry, he left for the airport with a 100% record from his four engagements.

This week it’s been winners on Monday at Plumpton, Tuesday at Naas, and Wednesday in Newbury and two at Exeter on Thursday, all for the boss.

Only once in the last 11 seasons has Geraghty recorded less than a 20% strike rate across the water, and that was a hardly-shabby 15, three campaigns back. He is currently on 27.

SPECULATION

Meanwhile, he has already matched his tally of winners from last term in Ireland with 21 and been involved in more races. No sign of slowing down or of waning powers.

“Warren Ewing, who’d be a good friend, he said it to me he’d heard I was retiring,” says a laughing Geraghty.

“That was the first I heard of it. And he said to me that he’d be disappointed if I hadn’t told him so I said ‘You’re alright, you’re safe enough, there’s no news’ and then I started to hear it more.

“It was more the press asking me ‘Is there a story? Should we be preparing ourselves?’ I was telling them, they were premature. Sure you know yourself, you’re always the last to hear it.”

It did seem strange when he had consistently expressed his total enjoyment in being a jockey at the top level.

“Exactly. Sure that’s it. That’s the simple fact of it. I’m riding plenty of good horses in England and some nice horses in Ireland too. Riding nice horses is what it’s all about.”

He wouldn’t be doing it without the total buy-in and support of his wife Paula however.

“It can’t be easy at times for Paula to be at home looking after the three kids while I’m commuting over and back and she runs the show. That support is the reason I’m able to do this and I am very aware of that.”

When he talks about riding nice horses, they don’t come much nicer than Buveur D’Air, not that this was a sentence you would have read anywhere prior to the Fighting Fifth. Despite winning his first Champion Hurdle with a chasing prep and retaining his crown when not in mint condition, it took lowering Samcro’s colours to the tune of eight lengths for the seven-year-old son of Crillon to earn belated credit.

“It’s probably the fact that he underperformed in the Champion Hurdle last year that he didn’t get as much recognition as he might deserve.

“It was a great performance in the Fighting Fifth. Samcro brought a high level of form, and so did Summerville Boy, who was well backed. I think the form of the race is there.”

What is frightening for the opposition, though exciting for Geraghty, is that Nicky Henderson had very little done with his charge beforehand.

“He gave a good blow at the second last.There’s plenty of improvement in him. He’s a burly fella so he improves for racing.”

The return to form of Defi Du Seuil is one of the real bright points of the year so far. The former Triumph Hurdle victor was a pale shadow of himself last season, when the Philip Hobbs yard was under a cloud, and then finished a 25-length last of five on his debut over fences at Cheltenham in November.

He clearly needed the run on that occasion however, as the Voix Du Nord five-year-old was electric in seeing off a top-class field at Exeter earlier this month and moves into prime contention for major honours. “He was very good, jumped great. It took him to half-way to measure his fences as well as he could and he was very good over the last four.

“It was a solid performance. I was always mad about him. Even as a juvenile, I was always looking forward to him going chasing.”

Tyrella point-to-point winner, Birchdale got his hurdling campaign off to a successful start at Warwick the day before we speak and Geraghty could not hide his admiration for the Wilson Dennison graduate.

“It was a strong race but from what he’d shown us at home, in his work and schooling, he was shaping up like a smart horse. We were hoping he’d do what he did and he went through the race nicely.”

CHALLENGES

The challenges aren’t all on the track however and the whip has become a significant topic for discussion in England especially, with some commentary bordering on the irresponsibly ignorant and sensational, implying that the tens of thousands of people working with horses are intentionally inflicting pain on them.

Geraghty cannot envisage a time when the whip is banned but agrees that it is up to racing to acknowledge how it might be viewed and to improve the perception.

Putting on displays on race days, perhaps with jockeys talking to members of the public would be something worth doing, he agrees.

“All you can do is try educate people. It obviously is necessary. I think the whip rules are really well enforced in both countries.

“You’re trying to get the best out of your horse and they need encouragement, but when a horse is out of contention and he gets a smack, the stewards are onto that like a flash and that’s great, because that’s when the whip is being used unnecessarily.

“But the whip really is so well padded now and that’s a good thing. The horse isn’t actually being hurt in the process. It’s a tool for encouragement.

“We all have horses’ welfare at heart. I pulled up Sprinter Sacre half way through a race and everyone watching the race completely shocked that I’d done it but I knew he wasn’t right. His interests were in my heart.

“The talk about winning at all costs – they’re trying to sell a story using lines like that.

“We’re trying to get the best out of a horse but not for a second would we risk the horse’s welfare.

“When you’re going to a fence on soft ground, to meet the fence on the stride you’re on, you need to keep momentum, you might have to keep your horse concentrated.

“You don’t need it the whole time and you don’t use it the whole time, but there are certain stages with some horses where you need to tell them to concentrate, switch on.

“Some lads are real laid back, they switch off and they wind up getting a heavy fall because they meet a fence on a forward stride and if you can’t keep the momentum going, they meet it on the wrong stride and come a cropper. No, it’s hugely important to have the whip.”

In Aboriginal culture, Dreamtime is about an understanding of the world’s creation and the stories around that, and about observing traditions and laws that were established as a result of knowledge. In racing, it is about the beginning too, of a season, and thoughts of adding to the lore.

The focus is on what might be as well as what was and what is. The aforementioned Birchdale is just one example for Geraghty, who despite the multiple Gold Cups, Champion Hurdles, Champion Chases and Grand Nationals, is still like a child on Christmas morning in the opening half of the season, when everything is still possible.

“That’s what everyone wants. Everyone is after the potential star. For example, that fella (Birchdale), it’s his first step on the ladder. It’s a long way to go and most of them don’t get there.” That knowledge won’t stop him hoping however.

Indeed he has been educating young horses at Gaulstown Farm in Drumree, which also is home to a herd of cattle, for many years. That he has maintained a connection with some of them after they have moved on is a happy bonus.

The most famous was Bobs Worth, who he had with his brother Norman and subsequently shared a catalogue of major triumphs with, the Cheltenham Gold Cup among them.

Others include Brain Power, an effortless winner of the Grade 2 International Hurdle last weekend, and Canardier, who he drove to success in the Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle at Cheltenham last month for Dermot McLoughlin. Geraghty was on board when Reigning Supreme won his beginners’ chase by nine lengths at Kempton last month, and also won once on Barry Connell’s five-time victor, Bullock Harbour.

Clearly, his former charges relish being back in his company. He is enthusiastic about a couple of his more recent protégés. “We sold a nice horse that we had with Aidan Fitzgerald called Umbrigado in March. David Pipe bought him and he won his bumper at Uttoxeter. He’s very smart.

‘Blazers Mill is another. He actually finished second to Birchdale (at Tyrella). We had him with Warren Ewing and he’s with Olly Murphy now. They’re nice youngsters.”

The majority are sold from the point-to-point circuit. It’s competitive but he loves it and it is notable that Blazers Mill and Umbrigado, who went on to make his debut over hurdles a successful one at Southwell last Sunday, both sold well without winning their maidens between the flags.

“We’ve a nice bunch of three-year-olds with Warren and a couple with Aidan Fitzgerald and James Sheehan. “That top end of the business is very healthy but it’s suffering elsewhere. There are less buyers for the lesser horse.

“Everyone wants the superstar so it’s a bit top-heavy that way. But you still have horses that come through.

“Think of all the good horses over the years that weren’t big-money horses. Moscow Flyer, Beef Or Salmon, Big Zeb, Brave Inca – lots of superstars that weren’t expensive.” “It’s back to that dream, for breeders, pinhookers, owners, trainers and jockeys.

And for Geraghty, the fire that fuels those dreams remains fierce.

Those articles will have to remain on hold another while.

Barry Geraghty with Fran Berry and JP McManus following their Galway Hurdle win on Tigris River in 2017. Photo Healy Racing