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As a newb to this great sport it is not uncommon to hear people say ‘what a ride’ and laud the man or indeed woman in the saddle when a horse is first past the post. One thing that I find particularly difficult to decipher is what exactly constitutes a good ride ? This seems to me very subjective for the most part: I merely see a man or woman bobbing on top of horse and ones jockey’s actions look no different to another. How does one learn to decipher ‘good rides’ does it take a few years of practice and what are some of the more obvious things one might be able to spot in the video replays ?
If they win the race they are lauded. If they don’t a load of folk hyper-analyse and advise what went wrong.
BUY THE SUN
There’s more than a grain of truth in that previous comment. To some extent, I think a jockey is giving a good ride if they don’t actually do anything particularly memorable!
Despite having watched racing for a long time, I still couldn’t tell you much about what constitutes a particularly good ride from a stylistic viewpoint. However, with a bit of experience, it’s easier to spot good rides from a strategic viewpoint e.g. where the jockey has judged the pace of the race well or how they have positioned their horse. Some of Rachael Blackmore’s rides at Cheltenham were good examples of this.
Matt, The Tatlings post more or less sums it up. They will rarely elaborate why it was a great ride. It’s just a throw away line which they use far too often.
See also – Great training performance
Also, if they are a particular favourite of the media, they will be lauded even more.
Correct Silver Spoon – see the nauseating way the media are always sucking up to Charlie Dettori.
BUY THE SUN
“Some of Rachael Blackmore’s rides at Cheltenham were good examples of this.”
Her ride on Sir Gerhard is the best example. I am not at all convinced she was on the best horse in the race but she gave her horse the best ride. Paul Townend, on the other hand, was in a poor tactical position on Kilcruit.
It is not the first time Blackmore has outwitted and out ridden Townend around Cheltenham. If I was Mr Mullins, I would be thinking about appointing a new stable jockey.
Would have to agree, Blackmore does seem to have the indian sign over Townend at Cheltenham, when she’s not got her arse sat on the grass!
BUY THE SUN
The ‘good ride’ is given by a jockey who rides the race correctly
The ‘great ride’ is given by a jockey who can sense pace and discern shape
The ‘bad ride’ is given by the jockey on a beaten favourite
Has Rachael Blackmore been declared a ‘genius’ yet?
Have just watched the replay of that race Nathan, how on earth did he win that! Had thought he’d been pulled up when tailing off, some performance to make up all that ground under top weight too. A great ‘patient ride’ !
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