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i found it ludicrous that people on the racing post site are even discussing r.hughes for the role. do you honestly think he’ll give up his rides on CC in 2011? and r.moore? no chance, surely he would want to ride a derby winner staying on in training etc. got to be fallon or soumillon, surely.
Does anyone have an idea what Jonnny Murtagh’s plans are? If he stays in Ireland and should Ballydoyle sign a non-Irish based jockey it’s going to give young jockey’s even less chance to pick up good rides.
Johnny will go back to riding for Mick Halford and Ger Lyons as he was doing before he got the Ballydoyle gig. I think he’s considering taking out a jumps license again too and given the problems he’s had with his weight down the years this mightn’t be the worst idea in the world.
i found it ludicrous that people on the racing post site are even discussing r.hughes for the role.
Might fancy coming home for his last few years? Isn’t he married to Hannon’s daughter though?
got to be fallon or soumillon, surely.
It definitely won’t be Fallon. Too much baggage and history there – similar story for Tom Queally. Soumillon at Ballydoyle wouldn’t work. I just can’t imagine the chap riding around the gaffs over here and apparently Coolmore were far from impressed with his ride on Hurricane Run when he won the King George.
Pat Smullen is married to Frances Crowley who is Anne Marie O’Brien’s sister (daughters of Joe Crowley who trained Hairy Molly). It’s his if he wants it but he will find it difficult to leave DK and Rosewell.
I’d like to see Peslier getting it but I can’t see a guy at his stage of his career relocating to Tipperary.
The question is why would any group one jockey go to a yard with a reputation for firing the jockey every 4 yearsn or so?
The best jockeys in Europe have ridden for Ballydoyle in the last decade.Over the last ten years Kinane Spencer Fallon and Murtagh have all been hired and fired.Spencer is the wisest one.He walked away.Fallon had to go I know.
Now to the problem of Murtagh. Two years ago he cleaned up as Ascot winning all kinds of races listed and Group Ones.Last year Ballydoyle had the best tyos in Europe and were heading for a stellar year this year.
However it all fell apart. The horses never ran up to their billing especially SNA.
When horses stop performing in a yard the trainer starts looking around for the cause, starts giving the jockeys different instructions from the norm,starts changing jockeys, anything to get back to the old standards.The jockeys start to think the trainer is blaming them for the failures of the horses.Someone else is now riding the No1 horses in their mind.In effect the system is beginning to implode and become unstable if you pardon the pun, and nobody knows why or who is responsible.Fingers start to be pointed at every small mistake being made by everyone.This is the process that has led to Johanny leaving.The horses never lived up to their billing this year and it looks like Murtagh is the fall guy
I also noted the absence of Tabor and Smith at many of the big group one races and the arrival of new owners in the yard.Aidan avoided the BC altogether this year.
Also to keep Aidan happy Australian horses are now arriving to win some group one races for the yard.The scene is not stable nor is the system.Until there is a better performance from the horses a top jockey will be loth to join the yard in my opinion.So a family member might be convinced to help out the family by taking the job eg Smullen.
That is the best I can do with the present information available.It would be difficult for any jockey, but you have to weigh up the risk and reward. There is a chance you will be no more than a puppet, doing as you are told, however you will be rewarded financially, very handsomely, and will also be very likely to get some of the most well bed horses in the world. Surely a gamble worth taking, in the short term anyone? Pat Smullen would have the most to lose, as it could harm his relationships with his immediate family, due to his relations with Mr O’Brien, and his employers at Rosewell House.
Dermot Weld rules out Pat Smullen’s move to Ballydoyle.
I don’t like to say this but, as it’s something I’ve been thinking for a long time, I may as well get it off my chest now. The O’Brien attention to detail before races somewhat freaks me out; it borders on the obsessive, and I’ve often wondered what he would be like to work for. As for the horses [and I hold up my hands in ignorance here and admit that I don’t know what I’m talking about] sometimes I feel like saying to him, they’re horses, sir, just tell them to go out there and run very fast. Henry Cecil seems to get better results these days without the shamanistic behaviour beforehand.
As J Gosden jumped in for a young W Buick are there no young up and coming jockeys in ireland?I ask in ignorance of young irish jockeys.
I have watched him on the phone as the horses pass the winning post and on the phone as they go down to the start. Seems to have difficulty letting go, so to speak.Does he not keep a check list so that everything can be said before the horses leave the parade ring? I have seen him saddling up and unsaddling, when there is a problem in the back barns before saddling up staff call for him.Who are the assistant trainers at Ballydoyle? Are there any? Who do staff go to when he is not available?For such a hands-on person where was he when the horses were running in the BC? Where were the owners? Perhaps someone of our readers who was there could enlighten me? He refers to the owners as the lads I wonder how the staff refer to him? Is he the Gov? Was he sincere this year when referring to Murtagh’s ride as brilliant, after winning a group race?(The public can decide these thing for themselves ,they are mostly informed lovers of the sport.)Was he mending fences in public for himself or for Murtagh? How can he let such brilliant jockeys depart?Could Murtagh no longer do the weight? I noticed him carrying a pound or two over weight on occasions.But then so was Joseph! Sad to see the parade of top class jockeys through the portals of Ballydoyle.The public have to wonder what exactly is going on at Ballydoyle and who they can believe when people speak.It is difficult conceiving of the operation as transparent in an age when knowledge and information is available in every other sport.I still remember the wonderful article in the Times in the summer of 08 of how happy Murtagh was to be riding for Ballydoyle.The Ballydoyle staff were so upbeat last year at Santa Anita and so excited about the prospects for 2010. How could it all go so wrong so fast? So many questions, so few answers.
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