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Matthew, having met you I feel it necessary to give you some grandfatherly advice, as welcome as your input is, you are wasting too much time posting to us old codgers on here.
get down the boozer now and pull a bi. find a nice young lady.
you know it makes sense.
Matthew, having met you I feel it necessary to give you some grandfatherly advice, as welcome as your input is, you are wasting too much time posting to us old codgers on here.
get down the boozer now and pull a bi. find a nice young lady.
you know it makes sense.
Barry, I don’t make you wrong, kind words.
Well if that was the case why not own up and say I’ve made a mistake? People are betting bundles on these races.
It’s Royal Ascot not Yarmouth on a Tuesday? Sign of a poor jockey in a job he’s out of his depth.
On the other hand, look at William Buick, class act, fitted in immediately at Gosden’s.
How many times does a jockey own up to making a mistake ?
W Buick for John Gosden this year 53-246 22% +20.40
R Hills for John Gosden last 5 years 27-115 23% +29.62Both seem pretty effective for Mr Gosden
Well if that was the case why not own up and say I’ve made a mistake? People are betting bundles on these races.
It’s Royal Ascot not Yarmouth on a Tuesday? Sign of a poor jockey in a job he’s out of his depth.
On the other hand, look at William Buick, class act, fitted in immediately at Gosden’s.
Come one, how many people own up and say they’ve cocked up when they don’t
have
to and draw attention to their own failings? Riding horses, and getting the rides in the first place, is a competitive business and you can’t blame him for not wanting to draw attention to this particular
faux pas
.
Even that idiot football referee David Elleray refused to admit – years later in his autobiography – that he got it wrong and cost Chesterfield an FA Cup final appearance, when it was obvious to anyone watching at the time.
Richard Hills is not my favourite jockey, but he is not the worst either in my opinion. That title belongs to Ahmed Ajtebi who, apart from being unable to judge pace, unbalancing most of his mounts, being overly harsh with his use of the whip on beaten horses, including juveniles, almost always at one point or another during a race appears just about to fall off.
Aaronizneez –
I think a lot of Sheik Hamdan’s are looked after in maidens which may explain his poor record. I read something soemwhere (possibly in the recent biography of his Dad) about him getting up to ride the first daughter of Salsabil and being told ‘ride this filly as if you were riding your own daughter’.
Matthew, Richard Hills was riding for Sheikh Hamden at Harry Thomson Jones yard before you were even born,he has had the longest riding career for one owner than any jockey i can remember,his strike rate for Thomson Jones 2yo"s first time out winners was incredible back in the mid 80"s,if the horse is good enough,so is Richard!
Aaronizneez –
I think a lot of Sheik Hamdan’s are looked after in maidens which may explain his poor record. I read something soemwhere (possibly in the recent biography of his Dad) about him getting up to ride the first daughter of Salsabil and being told ‘ride this filly as if you were riding your own daughter’.
That’s always been the problem I’ve had with Richard Hills. From a punter/betting point of view it can get annoying and frustrating when he goes easy on horses and possibly doesn’t finish in the best possible position he possibly could, especially if you’ve stuck what you thought was a banker in say a placepot and he’s eased on the horse and been run out of the placings.
With the quality of horses he rides for Sheikh Hamdan though you can kind of understand it from the other side that the owner may not want their horses knocking about too much, especially the younger ones.
I’d be interested to see any stats that seperate his mounts for his retainer as opposed to riding for anyone else? I know he has done pretty well in handicaps riding for people like Mark Johnston…
The easiest solution I came up with to stop this frustration though was to stop backing horses he was riding, we all have that same choice!
Interestingly, on the subject of how strong he is in a finish I can’t get out of my head a race possibly a couple of months ago which I’m sure was on the tele on a Saturday afternoon?
The vague memory I have is Hills and Fallon being on the front two in the market, Fallon possibly just on the slight fav of the two and the two horses drawing clear and having a titanic tussle throughout the last couple of furlongs with the lead changing hands several times…I was on Fallon’s mount and knew exactly what was going to happen and it did! RH got a right tune out of his and got back up deep inside the final furlong to win a shade cosily near the line!
Matt, you’re on a hiding to nothing here, mate.
Fwiw, I agree with you. I’d rather have a hessian sack of freshly picked Brussel Sprouts on my horse in a finish than Richard Hills. He’s by some considerable distance the worst "name" jockey in the country. He couldn’t finish stirring a cup of coffee to dissolve the sugar and believe me, I’ve backed enough of his horses (as a devoted follower of one of his memsahib’s retaining stables.)
His funky chicken finish on Finjaan in the 2007 Dewhurst and, two weeks earlier, his ride on the same horse in the Middle Park, cost me a considerable sum on both occasions and unless I think a horse of his has 20lb in hand, I don’t touch him. Had Martin Dwyer ridden Finjaan in both those races, the Tregoning stable were looking at another champion juvenile. Hills blew it on both occasions. That’s how poorly I rate Hills on a horse.
But. You’re a member of the forum and have been for months. You can see the vibe here. You ain’t going to win slagging jockeys/racing insiders and you ain’t going to win alienating the good old boys, so why bother? You’re just going to get banned.
Richard Hills is not the strongest in a finish, but he isn’t the worst either. I backed Elzaam in the Coventry, totally agree with Libretist. Richard thought he had it won, nowt to do with a "weak finish". 99 out of 100 times he would’ve been right. Strong Suit behind a wall of horses only got out late and flew.
Who’s ride was worse? Hills for being in the right place and did not go for everything when the probable winner? Or Hughes for getting his mount in a poor position? Hughes himself said Strong Suit’s turn of foot got him out of trouble.
Had both got a good ride Strong Suit would still be the winner. Elzaam lost, get over it.
It’s well known Sheikh Hamdan does not like his two year olds knocked about on debut. It’s important for a horse’s career to enjoy their first racecourse experience. He also likes his horses ridden fairly close to the pace. Richard Hills follows instructions well and is one of the very best front running jockeys.
Richard Hills also cost me a few weeks ago at Ascot. When Laaheb (Hills) outbattled Whispering Gallery (Fallon).
Hope threads like this persuade others not to back certain jockeys, more value for the rest of us.
Value Is Everything
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Sometimes in life your lucky to be born into something
That is very much the case with Richard Hills and I make no bones about saying it. However a lot of big names use his services even when they don’t have to so he’s can’t be as bad as stay at home punters seem to think he is.
Compared to Atjeb abullbull ameer, damned if I know his name…..rides for some Arab mob and Richard is the best jockey in the world. I swear that guy will fall off one day. He’s would make Nijinsky look like a rocking horses in a finish.
Point is the UK have the highest standard of jockeys in the world and not many are that bad.
RH has had his moments winning the Guineas the Oaks and 3 or 4 times he’s won the 1000 Guineas which his dad seem to specialize in.
Never could you say he’s a brilliant jockey by anyone’s standards. Guys never come near to topping 100 winners in all the years he’s been riding.
He is knocking on 50 so nowadays he gets things wrong now and again and sometimes he way of the mark. He’s not great in a finish but that’s something you have to factor into calculations if you are going to have a bet.
Edited: Inappropriate remarks
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When I say UK excuse my ignorance UK and Ireland or of you prefer Ireland and the UK
"that’s something you have to factor into calculations if you are going to have a bet".
You mean you do actually factor things before you have a bet Fist?
I suppose your first priority is "Has it got 4 legs and is hairy" then again so has a fly! - Total Posts 17716
Flies have 6 legs.
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TAPK I did say You have to not me. Meaning those who choose to maon about a jockey.
Put it this way..While it was not the case here I would never start a thread like this because a jockey I was critical of made a messs of things. No one tyo blame but yourself.
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