jockeys’ riding strategies

[kasparov]

I have been trying to work out what makes one jockey better than another. It seems to me that most jockeys do roughly the same thing. They ride patiently initially to conserve the horse’s energy and then get working towards the end of the race if the horse is in contention. The skill seems to be mainly in judging pace and position.

Now, it seems to me that some jockeys have preferred pace/position styles. For example, Hanagan prefers to race prominently and Hughes prefers to hold up. Why is this? Is one strategy better than the other? Or is it the nature of the horses and trainers they associate with that makes them adopt these strategies?

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