THIS is the awkward moment top jockey Davy Russell refused to answer an interviewer’s question during a frosty chat.
Russell, 41, is in the final stages of his remarkable recovery from a terrifying fall he suffered last November.
The dual Grand National winner on Tiger Roll fractured and dislocated three vertebrae and was in a neck brace for several weeks.
Now a spectacular Cheltenham Festival return is on the cards for the former Gold Cup winner.
But asked by an interviewer about the mental strength it took to go through with the recovery, Russell was tight-lipped.
The iconic jockey told Bruce Millington that he would not answer questions from him during a chat on Luck on Sunday on Racing TV.
Millington asked Russell: “Davy, the rehab, some of the things we’ve heard about hanging weights off… it sounds almost unendurable.
“How do you summon up the courage to go through that? It just sounds so tough.”
But Russell said: “Yeah, um, I tell you Bruce I’d rather not talk to you.
“If Nick wants to ask me questions that’s fine. I’ll talk to him all day long and you can write whatever you want to write in the paper, but I’d rather just talk to Nick if at all possible.”
Viewers speculated the tense encounter may have arisen from an article Millington wrote when editor of the Racing Post regarding Russell’s eventual ban for striking a horse.
Those watching the show were quick to pick up on the Valentine’s Day encounter, with one writing: “Roses are red, violets are blue, I’ll take questions from Nick, but not Bruce Millington too!”
It meant Nick Luck, the show’s host, had to conduct the rest of the 20-minute long chat single-handedly.
Russell, in a wide-ranging chat, also addressed Michael O’Leary’s claim that he should retire.
The Ryanair boss and Gigginstown chief – who owns Tiger Roll – told Luck last week that Russell should hang up the saddle for the sake of his wife and kids.
But Russell said: “We’ve had such a relationship over the years, and whatever has been printed on paper… face-to-face myself and Michael are good pals.
“I can see Michael would have a worry, the same way he does about Tiger Roll.
“Whatever you think of Michael O’Leary he adores that horse, as do his family, and he has kids to think of as well.
“But every man is his own. I’m sure Michael would be more than happy that I was back in one piece and booting winners.
“He’s well entitled to air his concerns but I don’t see them concerns.”
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