Davy Russell says he has "as much respect for Michael O’Leary’s opinion" as the Ryanair boss does for his.
O'Leary stated in an interview which aired earlier this week that he wished the jockey had stayed retired.
Russell, the current leading jockey in Cheltenham Festival history who is still riding, returned to the saddle back in January less than four weeks after he retired from the sport on a winner at Thurles.
The 43-year-old's decision came after Gordon Elliott's number one stable jockey Jack Kennedy suffered a broken leg in a fall at Naas and the Meath trainer asked Russell to come out of retirement.
But Gigginstown House Stud supremo O'Leary claimed Russell had “nothing to achieve by coming back”.
The airline boss said: "He’d retired and, personally, I wish he’d stayed retired. He has a young family with young children and at a certain point in time you should put your family first and not your riding career,” O’Leary said in the TV interview.
“When you get out at that age in your early 40s you don’t bounce, you don’t mend the way you did before. Particularly if you’re married and you have children: you put your family first.
“He’s had a glorious career and he has nothing to achieve by coming back and I don’t think he should’ve come out of retirement.”
However, Russell didn't pay too much attention to the comments.
He told ITV Racing on Thursday: “I have about as much respect for Michael O’Leary’s opinion as he has for my opinion.
"I didn’t see any father of the year awards being thrown out yet..I’m happy enough with my responsibilities at home. That’s about as much as that...I know I said it yesterday and that’s about it.”
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