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I think it is a shrewd aquisition for the Champion Trainer and an equally shrewd move by Paddy himself, he knows if hes going to be a future title contender he needs to be with a big southern outfit. <br>I’d like to hear your thoughts.
If his attitude improves he’ll do well if not it’ll be one of the biggest mistakes Nicholls ever makes. I do hope it’s the former.
Think he’s had 3 jobs including the one he was dismissed from for shooting a colleague in the head I believe – his last one he only picked up about 5 or 6 months back at David Wintle’s and he’s already left. He’s targeting the conditional jockey’s title this year.
This may sound harsh but at the minute if I were him I’d be concentrating on getting my career back on track rather than aiming right for the top this year, he’s only 18 I think so has plenty of time on his side.
Badly needs to settle down and prove he can hold a job down.<br>Champion trainer Nicholls will have runners everywhere so Merrigan should get opportunities though he still has to compete with the likes of Walsh, Tizzard, C.Williams and fellow claimer Heard.<br>If he blows this opportunity the damage to his reputation may be irreperable
I’d have to agree with Lingfield, he’s making himself an easy target for gossip and the media focusing on things going wrong as opposed to solely on his victories, but if he puts his head down and sticks at it, obviously it’s the best yard to be at. Will be interesting though, and with Nicholls so often having runners at every Saturday meeting he’ll probably pick up at least one decent race next year.
Question for Nicholls owners? Faced with a choice of P. Merrigan (5), L. Heard (5) or J. Tizzard (crap) what do you go for if Walsh is unavailable.
On that list I’d go
1. Heard<br>2. Tizzard<br>3. Williams<br>4. Merrigan
On the basis that I don’t want someone who’s liable to lose it on a horse of mine, if he proves otherwise in the next few months then the list will obviously change.
In a similar vein, what do you do if you are D Pipe?<br>Obviously T J Murphy’s riding style meets the approval of David Johnson but not the vast majority of other owners who hanker for the days of McCoy. It was reported that prior to M Pipe’s retirement at least, McCoy would be taking an increasing number of Pipe stable rides.<br>Assuming they can’t always get him given his commitments to McManus do you really fancy Malone, Scudamore,Greene or Glassonbury?  <br>
(Edited by Lingfield at 4:58 pm on May 30, 2006)
<br>Merrigan had a hot spell in Oct/Nov last year, but in the six months since he’s 6/92 and only one of those winners was over fences.
Given the bias towards chasers in Nicholls yard, the temperament problems noted above and his recent record, I’m rather surprised by this move.
The one thing that Merrigan has in his favour is that he’s on the books of top agent Dave Roberts, so he shouldn’t be short of outside rides.
AP
AP not sure if you have access to such stats but does he ride mostly over hurdles, bumpers or fences?
I can think of another leading claiming rider who appears to be pretty poor over fences yet has a decent strike rate in bumpers and hurdles (aided by riding for a top Irish trainer).
<br>He’s had 250 rides approx and two thirds have been over hurdles. His overall strike rate is 15% for hurdles, the same for bumpers, but only 10% for fences.
It’s that overall strike rate that makes the recent performance look odd in contrast.
There’s nothing unusual about a claimer having the majority of his rides over hurdles – there are more rides on offer in low grade hurdles than elsewhere. I don’t know if he rode in points in Ireland as well as pony races, but if not, then his lack of experience over fences could be an issue in that particular stable.
I hope it works out for him – last autumn he looked a real prospect – but recently he seems to be lacking in confidence, which is hardly surprising given his results.
AP
Did anyone see his ride on Jodante the other Friday night? Seemed to have too much confidence on that one!
Thanks AP. There do seem to be a number of conditional jockey’s handicap hurdle and none over fences.
Can’t find him on the Irish P2P site AP so presume he hasn’t ridden in points.
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