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Now I am not a fan of Geraghty at all as I think the way he rides horses they make far more mistakes than perhaps they should do imo. I have never ridden in a race nor ridden a horse that often however I don’t think for a minute that a horse wants to run straight into a fence or hurdle or even get it wrong whereby they hurt themselves. I also find him a poor judge of pace in a race as well.
Anyway my question is this. Do trainers of JP horses maybe think the same but they have no choice but to put him up.
Yanworth and Alan King spring to mind and Unowhatimeanharry and Harry Fry for 2 from last weeks Newbury meeting.
Now I know people will cite the amount of times he as won on both of those which I take on board but is not my point as some of those wins I could have won on.
My point being when the chips are down is he really a top class jockey and given a choice would trainers prefer to put their own jockeys up or someone else other that Geraghty.
I recall a number of years ago just before Henderson took him on there was talk of him going downhill and not being as good as he had previously bee.
He is one of the jockeys when riding anything I have to rate the horse a good deal better than the rest before punting because I just don’t think he is as good as made out to be.I mostly agree.
Judging on his recent runs, I don’t think Yanworth gets on with Geraghty. I’d love to see him ridden by a ‘softer’ jockey like Fehily, or maybe even Johnson who will make the horse’s mind up for him at every fence.
No doubt there are better out there. I see him as quite one dimensional and suits certain horses..
When he chooses horses ie, Le Richbourg at the weekend, i find it a positive now that the others have the benefit of say, Mark Walsh. Its often nice to see they are overpriced too in comparison due to the fact BG has chosen elsewhere.
Twitter: Jackh1092
Hindsight is 20/20 so make the most of it!Barry imo isn’t as good as he used to be a couple of years ago. Even when AP was still going I’d have put him top of the pile over fences. But after a fairly bad injury doesn’t seem to have come back as good. May be his confidence isn’t quite what it was. That said, it’s nowhere near as bad as Brian Cooper who’s unfortunately got big problems. Barry might return to the top, but do think jockeys are handicapped by the way JP likes his horses ridden. AP was never as consistently brilliant after taking the job.
I wouldn’t blame him atall for Yanworth, that hore is just not a good jumper – at least not yet and beaten by a top novice. As for Unowhatimeanharry; just look at how many number 1’s are against the horse’s name. Hasn’t done much – if anything – wrong there.
Value Is EverythingAs Ginger said probably not quite as good as he was what with injuries and all and whilst I don’t think he is the very best, personally if I couldn’t get Ruby to ride he would be one of a couple of jockeys next in line to chose from.
I seem to remember there was a similar debate with Ruby when he had that speight of last fence/hurdle falls and I think the fact that these guys are pretty much always in contention at the business end of more races means we hold them to a much higher standard and nitpick out the few times they don’t deliver as being an inditement of their ability being on the wane.
With regards to JP, I wonder just how much choice Barry really has over what he rides if there are multiple runners (and when aren’t there) – just because his is in the first colours doesn’t always mean that horse has the best chance of winning (similar with the O’Leary horses as well).
I don’t believe it would matter what jockey you put on Yanworth to be honest as I don’t think he is ever going to be the most natural jumper – he looked ok when he met one on a stride but doesn’t seem to get (at the moment) what is required of him when getting into the bottom of a fence. Barry knows him very well and that does count for something over putting on a new jockey for the first time.
I think Unowhatimeanharry is not quite the superstar we all want him to be and to be fair he was giving weight away all round at Newbury and I think the winner was given a little too much rope as Barry and Tom were no doubt riding to beat each other. Also bear in mind the horse has won 10 of his last 12 races and that was the first time in five rides that Barry had been beaten on him.
Is he the force of old, no but then what he currently brings to the table is still high quality imho.
LD, i am fairly certain, unlike Giggy, he is given full choice on who he rides in a race with multiple JP runners…As you say it doesn’t mean he has the best chance of winning really…but the market (thankfully) takes it literal.
UNWIMH isn’t a complete superstar, but he has come some way since Harry Fry has got him, and the majority of the improvement is credit to the trainer for me.
Twitter: Jackh1092
Hindsight is 20/20 so make the most of it!Jack – Absolutely, a lot of the finished article is down to the trainer but a jockey can ruin that quite easily if not riding him correctly and it didn’t strike me as a bad ride per say from Barry because he was in position to win the race if the horse had been good enough on the day.
I would imagine Fry left a little to work on and that plus the 6lbs he was conceeding and riding to beat Thistlecrack proved enough for the upset. Going forward they will be much more aware of what the winner is capable of and I am pretty certain off level weights at Cheltenham (assuming they both get there) who I would be siding with.
Is certainly in poor form of late, but I personally thought he was one of the best around, prior to taking the JP job.
it does seem that those who take no1 jockey roles with trainers comes in for a fair bit more stick – Ryan Moore, Ruby etc. Perhaps it is a perception most have that generally the bigger trainers horses are shorter than they should be, purely from the yard they come from.
with Yanworth specifically, think BG done well to win on him as much as he did last year. I have him down as one of the m Take away the connection and on paper Willoughby Court had every right to beat him
I would also agree that Geraghty isn’t what he used to be. I think his pace judgment is still OK and he is still fine over a fence but the main deterioration is what he does off the bridle.
I can’t remember the last time I saw him persevere with a horse who started struggling more than a mile from home. McCoy would usually try everything in his power to win on every horse and typically dished out a proper beating as every jockey should – often winning on seemingly lost causes. Geraghty either doesn’t want to get down and push or doesn’t have the fitness to do it nowadays.
I would also agree that Geraghty isn’t what he used to be. I think his pace judgment is still OK and he is still fine over a fence but the main deterioration is what he does off the bridle.
I can’t remember the last time I saw him persevere with a horse who started struggling more than a mile from home. McCoy would usually try everything in his power to win on every horse and typically dished out a proper beating as every jockey should – often winning on seemingly lost causes. Geraghty either doesn’t want to get down and push or doesn’t have the fitness to do it nowadays.
You must have been watching different races to me then, LD.
When AP was riding one of JP‘s and was “struggling” he’d often give it an easy time – unless of course the money was on… And am sure that’s the same with BG. But AP was the best there’s ever been at stoking them up. So there’ll obviously be a difference, but to call it “not wanting to” or “not the fitness” is over-playing it… And have seen AP giving JP’s an easy time even before he was “struggling”, am sure BG is the same with that too.
Value Is EverythingAye, fair point GT – remember a few powderpuff efforts from McCoy on Get Me Out Of Here early season in particular!
I’d stand by the query on BG’s fitness/inclination though. The money has seemingly been down a few times on his JP and non-JP mounts and he has been very quick to accept defeat off the bridle or after a serious (but not race-ending) mistake.
That is a big assumption to make based simply on a visual – a jockey sitting on the horse would have a much better feeling/idea as to whether he can respond to more urgings than us watching either from the stands or on tv.
What may look like he is not trying may simply be that the feeling the horse is giving him means it is in the best interest of the horse to either pull him up or let him come home in his/her own time.
Obviously it also depends on the horse and I am sure if he felt a horse responding he would kept at it until it stopped responding – those McCoy rides (Wichita Lineman the one that springs to mind) are usually on horses that he knew had more to give and so he kept at it but for everyone you can name where he did that there are most likely 10-12 where he didn’t keep on.
Anybody remember Peter Scu on Bonanza Boy in the Racing Post Chase on pretty desperate ground? He literally fell out the back of the tv before they had even jumped five fences and yet Scu kept pushing and pushing and eventually won the race – that was a case on him knowing the horse would gallop all day when the others were crying enough.
At the end of the day if the jockey has been pushing, kicking, cajoling for half a mile or so with little to no response then I have no issue with the jockey easing off or even pulling up especially if we are talking about a race run in very testing conditions.
Old man, over the hill. He’s never been the same since his last injury. He used to be a jockey to totally rely on, these days, that’s no longer the case. Age catches up with us all.
He was one of the very best.
At his best, Geraghty would be my first choice jockey. Rarely a faller
Yanworth isn’t bred for chasing so will make mistakes and occasionally appear reluctant. He may want to lead but very few of JP’s are ridden like that – it’s not just Barry but Mark Walsh and McManus’ other regular jockeys.
Geraghty is no longer retained rider for Henderson, riding horses less well prepared and some of which are being schooled on the course for handicap purposes. His strike rate over fences in this country since becoming JP’s retained jockey has dropped from the high twentys to the mid teens. Just 2 from 24 over fences for Jonjo last season.
Just 1 winner in 34 rides over hurdles for Jonjo from 2015 to 2017.I didn’t have a bet so it is not my pocket talking but the ride he gave Drumacoo today at Fairyhouse and the ground he lost at the last surely cost him the race. Why he didn’t kick on before the second last or just after it only he knows.
I will certainly be opposing what he rides at Cheltenham.
Good luck you Barry fans lolYep I think Barry Geraghty is much worse than he used to be. If you can count on a jockey to get the best horse in a race beat then look no further
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