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Does anyone think that Paul Hanagan can be caught in this years battle for the flat jockey crown? With only three months to go & with Ryan Moore still out injured, it lookes like a foregone conclusion & possibly only Richard Hughes can catch him.
It has been a great season for Hanagan & certainly didn’t see him getting the 115 winners he’s had to date, although he was a winning apprentice some 8 years ago !
Mark
Got a bit of luck on his side as well; had he not got a ban last week he would have been riding the horses the stable second jockey rode that resulted in him having a broken pelvis. And now Ryan Moore is out for a while. having said that, I understand that Richard Hughes isn’t that far behind him, and he has got a ban on Ebor day. Do hope he wins the championship, though.
Hughes is a certainty to make up the deficit. The fact that his father-in-law has far greater resources at his disposal than Fahey you can be sure that they will throw the kitchen sink at this challenge. The wheels will start falling off the Hanagan band wagon shortly. "Three wheels on my wagon, and I’m still rolling along, the Cherokess are after me…..
I would say that the jockey’s championship is of very little interest to Hannon Senior.As a trainer he has much more important issues to deal with.
Hughes is a certainty to make up the deficit. The fact that his father-in-law has far greater resources at his disposal than Fahey you can be sure that they will throw the kitchen sink at this challenge. The wheels will start falling off the Hanagan band wagon shortly. "Three wheels on my wagon, and I’m still rolling along, the Cherokess are after me…..
Is there any truth in that Hughes doesn’t see eye to eye with Hannon on a few things?
Mark
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No doubting Hanagans commitment and dedication but would be very dissapointed if he gets chapion jockey.
His ride today at Ripon in the last was shocking. He had plenty of time to switch his horse for a clear run but made the decision on several occasions not to. Very dissapointed if those sort of deicisions lead to a champion jockey.
But then again maybe becoming champion jockey is more about commitment/dedication/hard work rather than actual top class talent..
The word champion suggests the best but very obvious there are 10 if not more more talented riders than Hanagan, its just they dont ride in such poor events up North that Hanagan does allowing him to ride such high numbers.
Racing down South is much more competitive,Hanagan has ridden one winner at Ascot this year, none at Newbury,believe it or not he hasnt even ridden at Newmarket at all this current year!!!!!
Obviously he has to be talented to have ridden the number he has but there is an argument that his task is made a lot easier given the standard of races/competition he faces on a daily basis. I dare say if Frankie/Hughes/Moore and co rode where Hanagan does that they would be on this number too..
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Hanagan this year has only won one group race (4% hit rate),seven of his winners came in selling company (26% hit rate) whilst six came in claiming company(25% hit rate). He rode 78 handicap(15% hit rate) and 32 maiden winners (21% hit rate).
Ryan Moore has a 23% strike rate in group races this year
Dettori has 16%
Hughes has 23%
Even Buick has 9%So the question has to be asked, how can a jockey with a 4% hit rate in group races (when riding against the best jockeys) be our champion jockey?
Hanagan rides in way more claimers and selling races than any of the other top southern jockeys and its interesting that he has such a poor strike rate in group races, maybe thats because he doesn’t have the quality rides in the big races but if he is so good why are the big trainers not trusting him with the big rides??
Once again Im not questioning his commitment or effort but for me he is far from being one of the top jockeys in terms of talent.
If being champion jockey means riding the most winners then fair enough he cleans up in terrible races and rides the most winners and he rides everyday of the week without fail and you have to respect that, but if people think that being champion jockey suggests being the best or even one of the best then I suggest looking closely at his stats when he does ride against the best.
Does anyone else find it bizzare that the probable flat racing champion jockey 2010 hasn’t even ridden this season at flat racing headquarters????
Hes only actually ridden one winner there in the past 5 years from 61 rides (again when riding against the best jockeys). Again maybe this is down to the quality of rides Hanagan gets at the big tracks but his stats when competing against the top jockeys are really very poor for whatever reason..
Many good jockeys wait years before winning ,or even riding in a Group One race.So up and coming lads may have to wait longer before riding a group one horse in a Group One race.So in that area we must compare like with like. I think he would come out looking O.K.I dont discount what you say just go slowly before condemning him to no-man’s land.
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Whatever the case I still find it bizzare that our probable champion jockey hasn’t even ridden a race at flat headquarters this year and has one of the worst if not the worst strike rate in group races this year.
I think its fairly safe to say that if you want to win the jockeys championship that its a much easier task if you are based up North. If Mark Johnston had a number one stable jockey then they would be champion jockey too given how many winners he has.
Anyway once again Hanagan seems extremely hard working, commited and perhaps therefore deserving but definitely not amongst the top jockeys in terms of talent.
Whatever the case I still find it bizzare that our probable champion jockey hasn’t even ridden a race at flat headquarters this year and has one of the worst if not the worst strike rate in group races this year.
I think this statement typifies all that’s wrong with the elitist concepts in racing. Since when is riding winners in largely uncompetitive Group races any greater test of jockeyship than persuading poor and less talented horses to win lower value races. By the same logic I believe trainers are about the number of winners and strike rate rather than producing a few winners of valuable group races from the best horses paid for by rich owners which makes Richard Hannon and Mark Johnston masters by doing both as although they do have some rich owners they win all sorts of races in huge numbers often with cheaply bought stock
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If thats how you see it then fair enough, but for me there seems to be two seperate competitions this year.
1) Hanagan riding up North in poor races
2) Hughes,Moore,Fallon,Dettori,Spencer,Queally all riding against each other most days..
If you think a competition that crowns a jockey champion without riding at Newmarket throughout the season is a good thing then fair enough.
Maybe this season the best team in England will be determined by which team gains the most points throughout the season irrespective of what league they are in.
"Since when is winning football matches in a largely uncompetitive league any greater test of ability than persuading poor and less talented players/teams to win lower grade matches."
As has been pointed out to you a lot of the so called ‘top’ races are uncompetitive & urging an unwilling partner in a competitive race be it North, South East or West to win must give both the jockey & connections a whole lot more satisfaction than someone who has loads of dosh & umpteen horses, a lot of the times used as a status symbol. What did Arthur Stephenson used to say ‘Little fish are sweet’.
If thats how you see it then fair enough, but for me there seems to be two seperate competitions this year.
1) Hanagan riding up North in poor races
2) Hughes,Moore,Fallon,Dettori,Spencer,Queally all riding against each other most days..
If you think a competition that crowns a jockey champion without riding at Newmarket throughout the season is a good thing then fair enough.
Maybe this season the best team in England will be determined by which team gains the most points throughout the season irrespective of what league they are in.
On the other hand, if Chelsea decide they aren’t going to bother playing Wigan or Blackburn because it’s beneath them, they aren’t going to win the league & quite rightly so.
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Fair points well made but I think its a great shame when avoiding riding at flat racing HQ actually increases your chances of winning the jockeys title. Has to be something wrong with that.
Shoe on the other foot time – imagine we had a champion NH jockey who didnt ride at Cheltenham throughout the season – would that be task made easier or harder for him i.e on the days when all his rivals are taking each other on at Cheltenham he is off riding at Sedgefield.
Given the fact that Hanagans challengers to the title are usually riding against each other each day it gives him a massive advantage
Once again I am not questioning Hanagans commitment/hard work etc but you must admit he has a huge advantage given his location and the two trainers he rides for…
Anyway its done and dusted looking at the fixture list for the next 2 months, full of Northern meetings. No chance he will get caught barring injury which he does not deserve.
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