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Come on, this is getting ridiculous. It’s the Gosdens almost every time a jockey gets it wrong. No owner complains, if the trainer is unable to win races with a multi-million pound purchase. If that would be the case Godolphin would have had at least 20-30 trainers in GB or FRA.
They should get over it instead of stirring up so much drama. How many times do trainers disappoint when failing to pick the right race for a horse or having it fit 1st time out?It is true, as LD pointed out, that Moore is one of the jockeys who stands out when it comes to reading a race and making far less mistakes than the rest. But, the entire discussion about Kieran Shoemark is overly exaggerated.
I bet no one really wants to work with the Gosden duo. Riding their horses yes, but not listening to their lectures afterwards in case things don’t go according to plan.
We don’t really know what is going on behind the scenes regarding what owners are or (are not) saying to the Gosdens about riding arrangements as to whether it is a purely trainer led or owner led decision to make this change.
As I said, had Kieran not had the issues he had last season (not all of them being his fault), I am not sure we would be in the same situation we find ourselves in now – two of the Gosdens biggest, high profile and long standing owners (Juddmonte and Cheveley Park) have both had reverses and it is entirely possible that they have gone to the Gosdens and said we want to look for the ‘best available’ going forward.
At the end of the day, finding the ‘best available’ brings its own set of problems as most big yards and/or owners tend to have a retained rider attached to them (note that the Gosden yard has 8 owner retained jockeys) so the headache of trying to find a high class unattached jockey on a consistent basis could be more trying all around.
It really wouldn’t surprise me if like the Dettori incident, Kieran ends up back on these horses again.
As he’s a bit inexperienced in this particular race I reckon Kieran has watched last years race and been swayed by it a bit too much. The fantastic cruising speed of both Notable Speech and Rosallion meant they both didn’t need to be vigorously ridden until the last furlong and a half whereas this year they were going for it just over 2f out and that’s caught him out big time.
He got it wrong, he’s human. I don’t think he should have been retained in the first place and that’s poor judgement from the Gosdens. Not because he isn’t a fine jockey but I don’t think he had enough group 1 experience at the time and taking over straight after Dettori was always going to be a burden. He has done a lot right too though including that excellent ride on Friendly Soul on arc day.
All in all, he just needs to get his head down and ride plenty of winners for others now. If not then he could become a live action thunderbird instead.
Gosdens’ horses seem to be under performing since Thady was added. It’s to be expected when an experienced trainer starts to hand over the reins and disappointing that they scapegoat the jockey (even though I’m sure he’d kill to get another go at the Guineas).
Very distasteful Gosden discussing this in my opinion leaving Kieran in a tricky position being stuck between a rock and a hard place when he was asked for a statement which he declined.
The more I know the less I understand.
Got a very punchable face and manner about him has Thady Gosden!
The poster boy for being born with a silver spoon up his arse and now behaves in a way that screams of treating people around him
With arrogance and disdain. Throughly unlikeable. Both him and his po faced old man!Imho overeaction .
Saw the ride he gave Shes Perfect at Longchamp few weeks back , perfection on her and almost pulled off big shock .
Iam a fan of Juddmonte horses ever since days of Rainbow Quest and Warning etc and like to see Gosden in winners as hes a great trainer but id like to see FOG beaten next time , i dont think hes a world beater .
As for rest of Gosdens and Juddmonte I will be business as usual and enjoy seeing them win .Glad to say push-back against the Gosdens. I think TG is a lot to do with it as John never used to be a lot more dignified when things went wrong. RM, like anyone, makes the odd mistake but I have never heard Aidan O’Brien criticise him, ever. Reminds me of Ambiente Friendly last year- they sacked Callum Sheppard and the horse hasn’t won since -karma might see the same happen to Field of Gold (of course it go the other way- Dancing Brave won everything after they replaced Starkey with Eddery). My preference would be Rossa Ryan- he’s won Juddmonte an Arc so he’s already delivered for them.
Gosden should have kept the criticism private. It is not the first time he has publicly criticised a jockey – remember the “our hero” talk when Dettori got caught too far back on Stradivarius at Royal Ascot.
Unfortunately the modern media shoves a microphone in front of people within minutes of a race finishing and when emotions are still running high. Some people manage to be diplomatic, others don’t.
I don’t really see why some people are still defending Shoemark. He admitted himself it was not a good ride. That was commendably honest of him but it probably made it easier for the Gosdens to sack him.
None of us know for sure but Juddmonte must have played a role in this decision. It is a results business and it seems clear they don’t have any confidence in Shoemark. They think they should have a 2,000 Guineas winner in their stallion ranks next year but don’t because of jockey error. They are not likely to find that satisfactory or to accept it without comment.
If owners tell a trainer they want a different jockey, the trainer will always side with the owners. They put horses in the stable, jockeys don’t. Stoute didn’t go out of his way to defend Kingscote when the stable’s main owner wanted Dettori on board Desert Crown. Likewise, Gosden was not going to risk upsetting or even losing his main owner over an average jockey.
It is unfortunate for Shoemark but he is not the first jockey to lose a job and won’t be the last. He needs to do what all jockeys should do in this situation. Take it on the chin and ride winners. Rob Hornby was jocked off Westover but rode a Group 1 winner not long afterwards. Tom Marquand got jocked off a Derby favourite but it didn’t do him any harm in the long term.
Some of us (CAS, Me and one or two others)
said a year ago when he was appointed stable jockey to the Gosden’s he wasn’t good enough. We all know Chapman is sickening when anyone criticises one of his boys but Chamberlin was even worse yesterday.First of all he said “Time for Kieran to prove a point on Queen of Thieves,” where he proceeded to ride a shocker. Then when discussing Kieran said that a big bugbear of his was why a pacemaker isn’t used by Juddmonte in big races like the Guineas. First person I’ve heard mention that lack of pacemakers was a big bugbear of theirs, not heard him mention it before.
So Ed’s solution if your jockey isn’t good enough in the first place is to employ a pacemaker and help him out.
I’m not a great fan of Ryan Moore and not ashamed to say it..I feel that he is fortunate to be gifted horses with ‘wings’ and he delivers when necessary but he has made mistakes and misjudgements and I’m sure many on here will have a story to tell. Even in the 1000 Guineas the hyped up clash between Desert Flower and Lake Victoria which really only benefited the bookies and all those AP bets that went down the pan.
In the paddock LV looked as though she has progressed through the winter but Desert Flower literally produced gasps of admiration when she entered the paddock. No criticism of RM for only getting 6th place on LV because they knew she needed that run and will win her next Group race.Kieran Shoemark however was on a horse who could sprout wings when asked and he made a major error of being over confident and failed to ask his horse to go until it was too late. The Gosden’s had to stand and watch their Guineas dream go down the pan it was a hard watch and they had to lay the blame on Shoemark..and yes he did mess up big time but didn’t deserve a public flogging for it..totally agree with all the comments above especially about the gruesome duo.
JacThings turn out best for those who make the best of how things turn out...Just because a particular tactic doesn’t work in a race doesn’t mean it’s a “shocker”
I’d like to see Coolmore give Shoemark occasional opportunities in England and France
“Some of us..said a year ago when he was appointed stable jockey to the Gosden’s he wasn’t good enough.”
We did. And it should be taken in mind that the Guineas was not the first iffy ride Shoemark had delivered. Last year he was criticised for rides on Emily Upjohn, Free Wind, Inspiral and Arrest. The “Racing Post” was openly speculating about him being replaced last August. All last Saturday did was bring the long standing concerns to a head.
I do feel sorry for Shoemark but I don’t think it reflects well on Gosden to appoint someone so lacking in proven big race experience and then to criticise him publicly when it predictably went wrong.
We are all entitled to our opinions but it is pointless trying to second guess what goes on behind the scenes. As others have stated, Shoemark has form and we have witnessed several poor rides from him in high profile races. Yes, he’s ridden some good races but when you start quoting a number of poorly executed rides in a short period of time, then the writings on the wall. I would just like to pick up something with Triptych, can you highlight examples of when Ryan has made mistakes, there may well be some but i am struggling to name them at the highest level.
What also didn’t help him was the Gosden yard did not have a great bunch of horses last year, they finished 6th in the Trainers Title, which was the first time they had finished out of the top 3 since 2013.
With no Stradivarius to rely on and Inspiral being a shadow of her former self in her final season plus the fact that they really didn’t have anything much in the way of a classic crop either, the total prize money won last year was almost £3.4m down on 2023 and the lowest total they have amassed in the last 5 years.
Given all that, it was rather surprising to see that Kieran last year had his best season both numerically (101 winners – his first century of winners which was 21 more than he had ever ridden previously) and in prize money earned (just over £2m – well over £500k more than his previous best). His strike rate last season of 15% was also his best ever and this season he is currently at 16% so the stats say he is riding better…..go figure!
As I have said, at the very highest level the margins between victory and defeat are very fine and by his own admission it wasn’t a great ride and maybe at a lower level the horse quite possibly would have got him out of trouble but he simply now has to use this setback as fuel to improve by minimising those type of errors and taking full advantage of chances that come up……he is down to ride Charlie Fellows horse She’s Perfect in the French 1000g at the weekend, so that could be a good starting place.
I do think he is a good jockey with the potential to be able to hold down a job with a stable like the Gosdens and ride G1 winners – sadly he has been on a rather steep learning curve here for this and last season but if he keeps his head down, I do see him being able to get another high profile job and who knows, maybe when the dust has settled he just might find himself back in with the Gosdens and back on G1 horses.
Re Field of Gold, I also think he is a good horse with the potential to be one of the top 3 year old milers (in an openish and competitive division) this season and given his size, he was always going to be a better 3yr old and will no doubt continue to strengthen up through the season….whether that will happen with a different jockey uptop is anyone’s guess.
Triptych
Moore was a disaster for a couple of years under Coolmore due to holding up the horses and finding trouble in running way too often. There was a point where I really wanted to see him sacked.
His ride on Order Of St George in the 2017 Ascot Gold Cup was absolutely dreadful and that was pretty common from him back then.However, since switching to more positive riding tactics this past few years, I think he’s easily the best jockey in Europe.
said a year ago when he was appointed stable jockey to the Gosden’s he wasn’t good enough. We all know Chapman is sickening when anyone criticises one of his boys but Chamberlin was even worse yesterday.
Jac
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