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I thought I would ask the question as to who you thought was the ride of the week?
I will put my two penn’orth in and say Pat Smullen on Snow Sky. I think he rode them to sleep. They were all too busy trying to get their horses to settle and he sat in front with quiet hands and Snow Sky settled beautifully. I am not talking out of my pocket because I backed Telescope but appreciation of a great ride is there to be seen. He also rode a great race on Free Eagle which wouldn’t have won if he hadn’t been in the right place throughout the race!! (And I backed The Grey Gatsby too!!)
It will be interesting to see what others think regarding the best ride……
Good choice but for me I would have to say Moore on Clondaw Warrior just edged it over Frankie on Undrafted and Soumillon on Ervedya.
Smullen on Free Eagle. It was the only way the horse could win, not 100% fit. If he was fit he would have won easy. He got it spot diddly on.
Even if he finished 2nd it would have been a top ride.I like to go for a ride which has made the difference between victory and defeat. While Smullens rides were both good, most competent jockeys would have won on Snow Sky and Free Eagle only succeeded because The Grey Gatsby was desperately unlucky.
Like McCoy over jumps the one jockey on the flat who consistently wins races lots of other jockeys wouldn’t is Moore. As he won 9 races it’s highly likely he had the ride of the week and there were at least 3 or 4 of the wins were Moore made a significant difference, particularly the handicaps. I would just edge it to his War Envoy ride.
I thought Paul Hanagan’s ride aboard Mahsoob in the Wolverton Handicap
was coolness personified .Gambling Only Pays When You're Winning
For me it was Moore’s ride on Aloft, the horse wasn’t certain to stay the 2m and he timed everything to perfection with the final effort.
. I would just edge it to his War Envoy ride.
Seconded, was a fantastic ride on a quirky horse that doesn’t like being in front for very long!
I thought Soumillion was very classy on Ervedya. He timed that to absolute perfection to beat two very good fillies who both ran very well and up to their form.
Something that was maybe missed throughout the week as Ryan Moore deservedly got most of the riding attention, but James Doyle produced some fantastic rides , mostly in defeat. Thought he was excellent on Entertainment, Temptress and Mr Singh.
Pat Smullen on Free Eagle was an incredible ride. As mentioned above with the fitness concerns about the horse before the race he had to time everything to perfection. Yes you could argue that the Grey Gatsby was slightly unlucky but he had almost a furlong in the clear to peg back the leader.
Made up for Doyle’s efforts on Toscanini (Jersey) and Always Smile (Sandringham) neither of which he could keep straight. Toscanini caused interference and Always Smile gifted the race to Dettori on Osaila.
Was a good ride by Smullen but he was assisted by Dettori and Kirby on the second and third being determined to make life difficult for each other. Bookies benefit horse Telescope once again blew out.
Not sure you can blame Doyle for Always Smile, the horse clearly has a quirky edge and drifted last time out. Horse lost the race , not the jockey.
Trainer is the one who has to iron these quirks out. If Bin Suroor said don’t use the whip , then fair enough , Doyle is at fault.
I think it’s safe to say these were not his instructions though.
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