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The main gripe I have with this type of ride on young horses is that it teaches them nothing and could possibly encourage them to idle in front when faced with a sterner test. Surely with yesterday’s race done and dusted some way out Fitzgerald could have used the opportunity to get some useful work into the horse by asking her to continue galloping and/or quicken by simply pushing her out with hands and heels. The handicapper is hardly likely to be fooled by the tender riding out she actually received.
And, in my opinion, from a spectacle point of view cocky/lucky/careless riding (take your pick) such as this reflects no credit on the jockey whatsoever.
Yeats
The facts are that a race is not lost( by a jockey easing up) every week. It happens every season but no more than 2 or 3 times. I was in Australia for 3 years and went racing every weekend and it happened there too but I have no figures to know the relative frequencies.
Whilst it is more than infuriating to the owners/trainers/punters who have lost a winner it is a source of much jubilation to punters and connections who have gained a winner – so the world has not come to an end. The jockey has to go down on bended knee to get a ride from the connections in the future ( as he should) and there are therefore plenty of in built deterrents in the system.
As you imply by your Norton anecdote – Jockeys want winners – and I am not at all sure that increasing penalties limit mistakes. A month without pay per mistake would cause mayhem in every other walk of life.
Yeats,
Gosh you are a hard man! I would love to be your boss if you are volunteering to take 6 months off unpaid every time you make a mistake at work! I bet I would struggle to get you to take 28 unpaid days off.
From a journey man jockey’s point of view he can always supplement his income by riding out more lots in the morning, as for the likes of Fitzgerald he could always go to Las Vegas, and then on to Hawaii to chill out, as his success as a jockey has already set him up for life. I agree with Yeats the detterents are woefully inadequate, if the threat of a Six Month was hanging over them thier attitude to riding out would change pretty rapidly, and I would extend the penalty down to not riding out for a place aswell.
As for us if we kept making mistakes, we won’t be sitting out six months unpaid leave, but looking for a job collecting abandoned trolleys from the Tesco Car Park.
madman marz
"if we kept making mistakes". name me a jockey who has been done twice for this offence in, say, a 5 year period.
I am not against longer sentences for repeat offenders but it does not appear necessary.
madman marz
"if we kept making mistakes". name me a jockey who has been done twice for this offence in, say, a 5 year period.
I am not against longer sentences for repeat offenders but it does not appear necessary.
There is probably a lot more repeat offenders when it comes to easing off horses when their chance of winning is gone, and lose second/third or fourth, millions of pounds/euro are invested each day on forecasts/tricasts and ew singles & multiples so I think the offence is the same, from a punters perspective and everytime a horse is prematurely eased owners are missing out on prize money too.
I have found over the years Galejade the jockeys more likely to commit this offence are the big boys who are normally immune to stewards attentions.
Harsher penalties for non trying & premature easing of horses is the only way forward. "And no quarter given" by that I mean no protecting of reputations which is endemic.
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