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I believe sccording to a daily newspaper the stewards "NOTED" his explanation not "Accepted" it.
Not a J Spencer fan his ride on Prohibit looked good but i am sure any competent jockey could have done the same as far as Wigmore hall is concerned it was his fractional easing in the last few yards that cost him the race and the stewards noted his explanation make off it what you will.
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Wigmore Hall isn’t the easiest to ride, as he has one burst and needs to come as late as possible.
I dug this out from the Arlington Million thread, Pinz…
Apart from dropping his hands for the reason stated and accepted by the Doncaster stewards, I’m surprised you haven’t reasoned that Jamie may have got there too soon, having hit the front with just over a furlong to go?
Quite right. That is precisely what happened. But he had no option to go for home as early as he did, with the Elsworth filly getting into gear.
As you rightly gather I’m a big Wigmore Hall fan, having spotted him hopefully as "the new Teleprompter" in a thread just after his maiden victory. But like that great gelding, he’ll always lose a few it looks as if he should have won, due to his racing style.
Jockeyship is often a matter of a calculated gamble: when the thinking comes off on a horse like Wigmore Hall too many people are ready to chant "brilliant" in unison … just as here
(sigh)
they chant the reverse.
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I am sure Socrates ,Aristorle, Plato etc etc etc would never condone excusing failure.
This is totally off topic, I know, but I can’t let
that
pass! Aristotle’s
Poetics
contain perhaps the most moving and cogent description of the
necessity
of failure in human life (starting from the predicate "we all die", he explores the idea of "tragic flaws", showing how the greatest men have inherently the greatest flaws – and this is why we should do everything we can to understand and
excuse
their lapses.
We only know about Socrates’s thought through what Plato wrote down, but both believed in the necessity of imperfection in man, and our duty to be tolerant towards lapses in others (this is one of the tenets that Christianity took from Platonic thought.)
If you’re interested, I’m sure the Sacramento Public Library will have plenty more reading matter on these ancient worthies, but – odd though it seems to be evoking them in defence of Jockey Spencer! – I felt I had to address the misconception.
The jockey criticism can be boorish and pointless – but i think theres a point to be made here. Wigmore Hall should have won this race – the Stewards may be satisfied with Spencers explanation but i can’t concur myself.
Miss a winner because he didn’t want to interfere with 3rd place horse? Don’t buy iy. He wanted to win cosily giving the horse as easy a time as possible. And got mugged, along with Wigmore halls backers.
It looked fairly obvious to me, check also the still on the Racing Post website of Spencer crossing the line motionless and Hanagan pushing for all he was worth.
Is the concensus then that horses will only go forward when being hit with the stick? Contrary to most opinion put forward in this thread, Jamie Spencer did not, for a single stride, take it easy on Wigmore Hall, pushing the horse out vigorously to the line. Perhaps that wasn’t enough, but having watched the replay (rather than a still on the line) twenty times, I cannot see any perceptible slacking of momentum in the runner up.
I’m also amused by the stewards’ "noting" of Spencer’s explanation. They often hand out bans to jockeys for not correcting their mounts, and there can hardly be an easier decision for them to make as to whether a jockey has ridden his mount to the line or not. There is nothing in the rule book compelling a jockey to continue using the whip – although there are plenty of examples of when he/she is compelled not to. What exactly there was to "note", is utterly beyond my ken.
Contrary to most opinion put forward in this thread, Jamie Spencer did not, for a single stride, take it easy on Wigmore Hall, pushing the horse out vigorously to the line.
But he wasn’t as vigorous 5 or 6 strides before the line as he was 20 or 2 strides out. He thought he had the race won, sat up a little in the saddle and was mugged. That’s how I see it anyway.
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I agree with Rory that "noting" the explanation was a curious way to sit on the fence. Perhaps they felt that the plausibility of Spencer’s explanation was less important than the evident fact – which he has spelt out with great clarity – that the horse was ridden all the way to the line.
On the other hand, jockeys are often careful not to infringe the rules in this week of the season, with the big late-September events on the horizon. Watching the head-on gives credence to Spencer’s explanation about not wanting to interfere with Dettori’s mount – unusually polite though that might seem.
Quixall Crossett is right to be exasperated by the slanging that goes into these tedious Jockey-bashing threads. But when knee-jerk accusations are flying around without regard to the skills of race-reading and jockeyship, or an understanding of individual horses, then really, are we expected to bite our lips and see the Forum degenerate into Betfair Lite?
Doubtless that would be the wiser course, as the pocket-talkers, trolls and knee-jerkers can never be defeated – but we’re not all blessed with the gift of knowing when to keep silent!
I’m sure it’s the use of needless thread-derailing back-handed insults dressed up as ‘sound advice’ that annoys Quixall Crosset, Pinz.
IMO, Once the old ‘pocket talk’ accusation gets wheeled out, it’s the end of the thread as a sensible discussion of topic.
Personally, I’ve always found it easier in these so-called ‘jockey bashing’ threads – and there have been a few – to give my opinion on why I think the race wasn’t won before moving on swiftly, or to take the easier option of just avoiding it and let it slip to the bottom of the page. Many manage to add their tuppence worth without analyzing the disposition of the OP in the closing paragraph. This is as much, if not more of the problem IMVHO.
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Sound advice indeed. But what to do when, as now, these threads proliferate? Say nothing, and it gets worse. The advice to such posters amounts only to "think before you write", and I suppose we live in the eternal hope that they might – one day – do just that! But you are quite right to point out that personal rudeness, however disguised, merely pours oil on their flames.
I find the sophistry quite interesting.Better the Socratic method as a search for truth than the hay stupid approach.The reference to Sacramento seemed rather quaint(a sure place to meet my peers I admit) in this computer age but such is the way of the world and explains why people choose to remain anonymous I suppose. To forgive is divine, to err and admit it is human,to deny is heavy.I believe Jamie made an error,eased up for a stride and lost when he could have won.So I stated.I stand by it.The rest is prologue.
If the current rumours are to be believed, it sounds like the prodigal son has got the call from his godfather to return to Tipperary.
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How many of the stallions at coolmore are natural hold up horses and how many of the progeny Aidans got down the years love to be held up.
Bad decision, Spencer can only ride one way and even then he gets it terribly wrong – he’s going to get beaten left right and centre from the front costing them millions.
[attachment=0:238a4qz8]INPHO_00118606.jpg[/attachment:238a4qz8]
Jamie would be perfect for them at the moment. I think he has improved so much since going to England and really is a hard worker.
Come home son
He is riding a lot of the Marvan Koukash colours on the all weather at the minute. The way Soumillion is riding for Mike De Kock, I think he would be a perfect replacement for Murtagh. Still think Jonny was underrated and undervalued at Ballydoyle, and they will miss him a lot next season.
How many of the stallions at coolmore are natural hold up horses and how many of the progeny Aidans got down the years love to be held up.
Bad decision, Spencer can only ride one way and even then he gets it terribly wrong – he’s going to get beaten left right and centre from the front costing them millions.
Spencer is a genius when he rides from the front.
Murtagh rode a winner for Godolphin on Friday in the desert.I wonder how many he will ride for them when the season starts over here? He would certainly be a hell of a second jockey.Jamie will never get along with Aidan and Joseph.He is too well established now to take that crap(riding second string).He turned the job down once and I don’t think Aidan has matured since then.
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