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I notice that after his ride in the King George , it would appear that Paul Nicholls has persuaded the owner to “jock off” Gavin Sheehan , and use his in house jockeys instead.
Has anyone got any views on this ?.
Sheehan is a jockey that I have no firm views about , neither positive nor negative. I do think that he kicked on far too early , on a questionable stayer, in the race itself. However his ride was no worse than that given to Frodon by Bryony Frost , in setting an absolutely ridiculous pace in that ground. Ironically , Bryony may be one of the jockeys to benefit. I also thought that Nicholls was extremely unfair in his public condemnation of Sheehan’s ride. Surely it would be more professional to exchange views in private ?.Doubt Alan King will be using Sheehan again, either, after the ride he gave Nina The Terrier the other day.
1. Nicholls and the owner can do as they please.
2. Saint Calvados has now twice demonstrated he barely stays 3m even on a flat Park course.
3. Bryony Frost rode a brilliant “stop-start” pace race in front to win the King George last year. She wanted to do the same, but Rachael Blackmore on a Cheltenham Gold Cup winner, hence thorough stayed, was out to stop her and make the race an attritional test. Both jockeys unfairly criticised afterwards IMO.
4. It’s never great management on paper to publicly criticise someone, but then you have to know the personalities involved. A jockey could be sensitive and easily have their confidence shattered, or a jockey could be incredibly arrogant, never ride to orders, and warrant robust public treatment. I’ve no idea which, if either, Sheehan is, so hard to give informed comment.
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It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"One thing a jockey going a strong pace to bring stamina in to play.
Quite another going an overly strong pace, which can only leave them vulnerable to those who’ve gone the most economical pace throughout. Bryony and Rachael deserve criticism, but Sheehan was much worse.
Bryony was on a horse who is a known front runner but Frodon does still run well when prominent. So she could have dropped back. Especially as being on a 2 1/2m to 3m horse, at this trip the slower the pace the better for Frodon.
Being on a 3m to 3m2f horse who’d put up his best performance at 3m2f, Rachael must have been told to make sure it’s a strong pace at this trip, but overdid it.
Yes, Saint Calvados barely stays three miles, which makes the jockey’s ride so poor. With a horse that now goes well held up that barely stays 3 miles… Rushing Saint Calvados into the lead before the home straight off an overly strong pace was sheer stupidity from Sheehan and deserves to lose the ride.
Value Is EverythingWriting as someone who backed Saint Calvados in the King George, I think Sheehan deserves every criticism he gets for the ride. It was a shocker. I am not after timing or jumping on a bandwagon – I commented it was a poor ride on the King George thread not long after the race was over.
Ruby Walsh and Lydia Hislop were both critical of the ride on “The Road to Cheltenham” last night.
As far as I am aware, Sheehan has never ridden for Nicholls before. Given his poor ride which also (in Walsh’s view) compromised Clan Des Obeaux’s chance as well when Cobden reacted and started chasing him, it was very unlikely Nicholls was going to take a philosophical view. He was quick to drop Thomas and Jacob when they did not come up to scratch, so why would he stand by a jockey he has never used?
Brooks only has about six horses in the yard and if be took them elsewhere it would hardly be the end of the world for Nicholls.
I’m in a school of one, but I thought Sheehan got carted to the front and it wasn’t really his decision. And I can’t for the life of me see how he compromised Clan Des Obeaux’s race.
Frost tried to repeat winning tactics from a year ago – if she hadn’t it would have been bizarre.
BUY THE SUN
Walsh said that he thought it made Cobden chase Sheehan and get involved in a pace duel earlier than he wanted, which burned both horses out and allowed the winner to stay on past both of them.
Can’t have it that Sheehan was carted there and (more importantly) Nicholls clearly can’t either. If you are riding one that is a questionable stayer and needs holding up, you do not commit him about five fences from home.
To my mind, it was a classic mediocre jockey’s ride. Someone like a Walsh, Geraghty or Russell who is used to riding Grade 1 winners would have had the experience and nerve to hold on to him and play him late. A journeyman like Sheehan who seldom rides Grade 1 horses thought “This Might Be My Only Chance To Ride A King George Winner”, had a rush of blood to the head and committed far too soon.
Harsh on Sheehan imo. How many chances in a Grade 1 with a genuine chance has he had? Put him first jock at Closutton and he wouldn’t be classed as a “journeyman” due to the ammunition at his disposal.
Totally disagree regarding Frost. Only chance of her winning was controlling from the front. She therefore tried to do so. Criticising that seems ridiculous to me.
BUY THE SUN
Sheehan is not first jockey in any big yard. Maybe trainers reckon he is not good enough? Even Warren Greatrex, for whom Sheehan rode a Stayers Hurdle winner, started using Richard Johnson instead.
Neither is Hollie or James Doyle. Are they not good enough either? I think you put the “big yards” decisions in higher esteem than I do.
BUY THE SUN
If Gavin Sheehan had 100 rides in Grade 1’s yes he’d eventually not get rushes of blood to the head. But what trainer or owner in their right minds is going to lose top races just so a jockey can learn? No-one!
When it comes to judgement of pace and bottle, a jockey needs to be reasonably good at those things before he / she rides in Grade 1’s… And Sheehan isn’t a youngster anymore anyway. Jockeys with so many rides should not make such elementary mistakes.
Value Is EverythingDo you honestly think Sheehan cost him the King George? Couldn’t possibly agree with that. 3rd isn’t bad prize money either. Arguably a career best, save the Ryanair. The criticism is way over the top.
BUY THE SUN
Agree with the above said. He saw the first three or four in the market starting to backpedal and was quite confident his mount would “outstay” the rest. But that was just a short lived effort and he was beaten two out. A true G1 jockey would have “hidden” him behind the first two even as they approached the final fence.
Losing the ride shouldn’t come as a surprise. But, what if the horse just doesn’t stay a yard beyond 2m6f? Let’s say he gets the perfect ride next time and still finishes three lengths behind CDO. Who will be to blame then?
I mean, if you look at the bare result and you’re an owner and run one in the KG and someone tells you, your horse will finish three lengths behind CDO and eight lengths ahead of last years’ winner. Wouldn’t think that would be probably the best outcome you might expect?
Having said that, I will repeat what I said minutes after the race: he just went too early on him.
Saint Calvados probably would not have won but that is an opinion. We will never know whether it cost him the race, we won’t even know for certain if it cost him a place. The jockey’s job is to MAXIMISE the horse’s chance. So the point is and what we do know is: Sheehan’s stupidity cost the horse ALL CHANCE of winning.
Value Is Everything
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