Veteran sports journalist Mike Sheahan has been left devastated by the death of his horse Big Jimma.
The respected scribe was part-owner of the rising star and found out that the young gelding had suddenly died after trackwork on Tuesday via a voice message from well-known trainer Robert Hickmott.
The message said: “Good morning everyone. Not good news out here at Ballarat. Jimma, post gallop, he collapsed. Obviously he’s had a heart attack and he’s passed away.
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“He had his gallop, pulled up. The rider was on him and turning him round to come back home.
“He just got the wobbles and he was probably dead before he hit the ground.”
Sheahan decided to share the sad news in a column for the Herald Sun.
“I listened (to the message), then I listened again. Then tried to digest the news,” Sheahan wrote.
“As a part-owner, I was stunned and disappointed with the news. As a rising four-year-old, he was ready. Not only was he beautifully bred, he had been given plenty of time to mature, his temperament was exemplary and John Allan and Teo Nugent, who had ridden him in races, both said the horse ‘had ability’.
“After three years of investment of money, patience and hope — and the eternal optimism peculiar to horse owners — our horse was gone. Five starts for a third placing at Echuca on May 3.”
Sheahan said Melbourne Cup-winning trainer, Hickmott, was a huge fan of Big Jimma.
He said Hickmott “loved” the horse.
“He was so enamoured, he was aiming him at the Sandown Guineas before he had started in a race,” he said.
Sheahan also revealed the horse was named after the late Jim Stynes, the famous AFL player who came out from Ireland to become a superstar of Australian Football.
Stynes was a much-loved player for Melbourne and won a Brownlow Medal in 1991.
Sadly, Stynes died from cancer in 2012 at the age of 45.
Stynes’ brother, Brian, and former teammate Rod Grinter, were part of the syndicate that owned Big Jimma.
Jim Stynes left a lasting legacy in Melbourne.
There is a statue of him outside the MCG, and he was inducted into the Australian Hall of Fame.
The Jim Stynes Foundation is an organisation that helps young people “thrive in the face of adversity”.
The Jim Stynes Community Leadership Award is presented on Brownlow Medal night to AFL and AFLW players who “demonstrate a commitment to the community and helping others”.
The winner of that award receives $40,000 from that is donated to the charity or community program of the player’s choice.
