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Success in elite sport (and life) is NOT a popularity contest.
In this life you can be popular among your peers or you can be successful – but you can seldom be both.
Bryony Frost is making very sure no one intimidates her going forwards and if the price of that is no other jockeys so much as speaks to her I am sure she can comfortably live with that.
As Liberace said when asked if his haters upset him: “Yeah, I cry all the way to the BANK.”
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It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"Of course sport isn’t a popularity contest Ian, but there is a difference between not winning a popularity contest and being a pariah. The latter is likely to take its toll on most people over time, and I get the impression it has troubled Frost already.
What she said today about how her relationship with Tom Scudamore had changed was quite surprising and disappointing.
None of this means Frost is wrong for speaking out, and my admiration of her has only increased based on reports of the hearing so far.
I just liken being a jockey to being a tennis player – it’s an individual sport, not a team sport.
I can easily imagine that grand slam tennis players wouldn’t give each other the time of day in the locker room and though racing is different inasmuch as they all have the capacity to injure each other if they don’t ride safely, they aren’t answerable to each other individually.
Racing’s referees are the Stewards – its down to them to give unbiased “education” on safe riding within the rules.
It seems to me racing needs more hands on professional stewarding.
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It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"I’ve always thought there is a certain bond that jockeys share, especially Jumps ones, due to the risks involved and the highly insular world they exist in. They still need to be single-minded to get to the top, but that is very different psychologically compared to being regarded as an outcast.
That’s fair comment as usual from you, but I do think any notion of jockeys as a group regulating themselves in private needs to end.
It’s got no place in the modern world.
Let’s be honest, stewarding isn’t done to a great standard in the UK and if it was I don’t think as much of this sort of thing would occur.
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It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"Totally agree re the self-regulation of jockeys Ian, and also the quality of stewarding in general.
Whatever the outcome of this hearing, I think it will do some good in the wider sense e.g. we’ve already seen overdue developments re the changing rooms.
This is feeling more and more like what happened at Yorkshire and Essex cricket. Shocking behaviour that folk put down to banter. This code of silence is frankly bollocks. I’m old fashioned to believe if anybody abused a women the way dunne has done I would have stepped in. Also the excuse of being a solitary individual sport doesn’t wash either. Turning a blind eye to horrendous abuse is not acceptable at any time. Ryan Moore hinted at not wanting to take sides and while I don’t think he has done anything wrong it shines a light on jockeys attitude. Would dunne have spoken like that to jenny pitman. I bloody well doubt it. What were the valets doing while this was going on.
Just can’t get my head around this and the cricket situation where sportsmen think they can behave in a way in any other job they would be disciplned and ultimately sacked. I’ve no I’ll will towards dunne,more to the whole ethos in racing.
And they wonder why there is a shortage of stable staff up and down the country.Genuinely feel for her here. It’s not boring virtual signalling to state the alleged bulling of her is sickening. Dunne sounds like a right arsehole. I just don’t get how he can behave that way. Is he fundamentally scared of women? He’s pretty ugly so maybe that’s a clue
I’m tempted to say that if he wants to wave it about then suggest a chopping board and meat cleaver to end this nonsense once and for all.
Could do it in the paddock before racing I suppose. Will put a few on the gate
But all that aside she’s going to need some real support here. Even if she grates with some people, they should grow up and see the wider picture
Dunne can just **** off frankly
As followers of sport we forget that many (perhaos even most) sportspeople are pretty unpleasant people as overly competitive insecure people tend to be. Doesn’t excuse bullying at all but it’s very easy to imagine
“Ryan Moore hinted at not wanting to take sides and while I don’t think he has done anything wrong it shines a light on jockeys attitude”
Exactly this. Even worse (in my opinion) is Jim Crowley saying that Gibbon smelled of alcohol and that this wasn’t unusual. Why didn’t he report this? If he (or any of the others, including whoever from David O’Meara’s team was there) had, perhaps this awful incident wouldn’t have happened. I don’t think Tylicki will win his case and that’s probably right but it highlights the toxic weighing room culture as much as Bryony’s. The most telling part of Bryony’s testimony is “Dad always told me to stay quiet, don’t start anything, just let it happen and move on”. Good on her for standing up for herself. It’s been going on for far too long.
Well said, Tonge. I couldn’t believe Crowley’s after-timing some many years later. It must have been on his mind the whole time. Why did he wait so long?
As for Bryony, it don’t think she’ll get the appreciation she deserves. Weighing room culture might be taking a small step in the right direction, but as long as the mentality doesn’t change among jockeys and racing folk in general, this won’t be the last case.
Horse racing stuck in a time warp – discuss. It’s 2021, some of these attitudes almost beggar belief; the culture of the weighing room is ‘macho’ – Yes, it’s a tough sport, we all know that – but I find it disappointing at the ‘omerta’ of the weighing room. One wonders at all the old stories of the camaraderie…..
If by professional stewarding, you mean paid full time officials, then that’s what we already have. At all meetings now, there are three employees of the BHA acting as stewards, with a sole amateur sitting as the chair of the stewards panel.
For example, at Wincanton this afternoon, the stewards are Chris Rutter and Steve Drowne, assisted by Kate Smith, and the chair of the panel is Robert Ince Webb-Bowen. Kate Smith is effectively under training if I correctly understand the process, but she, Rutter and Drowne are all paid by the BHA.
As to whether this is an effective form of discipline and control, is open to question – in particular the widespread use of retired jockeys. Today also sees Alan Dempsey and Robert Earnshaw on duty at M Rasen, Fergus Sweeney at Leicester and Tony McGlone at Chelmsford.
Latest update. Hearing now adjourned until next week.
Bryony booked by Mullins for the ride on Franco de Port in the John Durkan.
Interesting.
“Kate Smith is effectively under training if I correctly understand the process, but she, Rutter and Drowne are all paid by the BHA. As to whether this is an effective form of discipline and control, is open to question”
Talked to Chris Rutter when I went to see the stewards after the 2015 Steventon Stakes at Newbury. Winner Intilaaq’s owner companion (an 8/1 shot) was pushed along to go sprint pace from the start of the 1m2f trip. Predictably soon beaten in the straight. When I complained I’ll never forget what head steward Chris Rutter told me “If the trainer is happy with the jockey going so fast then we (the stewards) are happy”.
Not effective imo.
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