At around 3:35 pm at Cheltenham racecourse on Tuesday afternoon, JP McManus took the hand of a 10-year-old boy. It was Dylan McNamara, the son of the sadly deceased jockey JT McNamara.
It's eight months since JT McNamara passed away due injuries suffered in a fall at the 2013 Cheltenham festival.
JT McNamara's wife Caroline & children Dylan, Harry & Olivia present a delighted @Lisa_0_Neill with her National Hunt Challenge Cup trophy pic.twitter.com/TtkMQpSkVN
— Horse Racing Ireland (@HRIRacing) March 14, 2017
McManus led young Dylan to the winner's enclosure as the crowd roared to meet McManus' Buveur D’Air who had just won the Champion Hurdle with Noel Fehily aboard.
Dylan, along with his mother and two siblings, had been guests at the racecourse on the opening day of the Cheltenham festival. There is also a race now named after Dylan's father, the 'JT McNamara National Hunt Challenge Cup Amateur Riders' Novices' Chase'. It was the penultimate race of the day on Tuesday.
JP McManus told The Times of his delight at being able to make the gesture.
It was totally spontaneous and it was lovely to be able to do it. I want him and them to have a good memory of Cheltenham. It meant a lot to me, and I hope that when they think of Cheltenham it will not be all bad, that there may be some good memories from it.
It was fitting that JP McManus was able to able to make that gesture at Cheltenham. He and JT McNamara, one of the great amateur jockeys, had a strong association at the racecourse. McNamara rode three winners for McManus at the festival between 2002 and 2007.
See Also: The World Famous Balls.ie Cheltenham Tipster Table - Day Two
Picture credit: Ramsey Cardy / SPORTSFILE
