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Just something that has made me think….Choc Thornton won’t speak to presenters until debriefing the connections, which I find to be very fair and admirable and avoids any other Tommo-esque moments such as with Tony Dobbin winning a chase not long ago where the owner was virtually barrelled out of the way.
Now if Choc was ever to win a Gold Cup, I wonder if he’d (quite rightly) tell the presenter to stuff off immediately!!
Post race `interviews` are at best pointless ( although I look forward to
Thommo saying ‘he could go round again’).Wouldn`t it be great if all the races were like the one Top Cees won at the
festival, returning in near silence – even C4 were too embarrassed to
try anything there.Errr because of the reply he gave… The answer he gave showed he obviously wished he picked Denman, correct?? Therefore where was his loyalty to the horse that gave him such fantastic wins including the gold cup 12 months ago. He stated previously that Kauto star was the best horse he’s ever ridden. Yet gave the reply showing he wished he’d ridden Denman – the winner. That’s not what it should be about. If that’s not about the money / getting winners at big meetings then what on earth was it about. Fair enough to him – all jockeys wish to have big winners. Just thought someone like walsh would have had a bit more loyalty.
did he not show his Loyalty by sticking with Kauto on the day?? he is one of the best Judges of a horse so i’d say he knew it would be close but he had to stay LOYAL to his horse and he is right it is the best horse he has ridden as Denman wouldnt win over the different distance’s Kauto has he was gutted he lost and you are only assuming he is like this, doesnt mean you are right just like i cant be 100% right but to say he is only in it for winners is bang on what jockey doesnt like winning thats the whole reason of racing to win……..
That’s silly. He clearly wished he’d ridden Denman. I’m glad i never supported Denman and glad i stuck by Kauto Star
That’s silly. He clearly wished he’d ridden Denman.
I think it’s fairer to say he clearly wished he’d won the Gold Cup, and who can blame him?
I can’t remember – did McCoy come in for this ‘disloyal’ slagging this time last year when he abandoned L’Ami for Exotic Dancer, or when he tried all ends up (albeit unsuccessfully) to get off Straw Bear in order to ride Brave Inca? Or was he in the clear because the horses he discarded didn’t go on to win?
I must admit I don’t follow the entertainment side of the industry, so have no idea what any jockey, trainer, or owner said ( unless it’s written in the RP or on a website like this), so
may I ask, is it a well-known fact that Ruby chose to ride KS?
I’d tend to feel that he gets told what to ride and where and when. I’d think too that they wanted him on KS to get the better price about Denman, but,
I suppose, it depends largely on who "they" are.I don’t know at all. Ballydoyle, however, have a far clearer policy when they have several in a race. Well, that’s how it seems to me.
As for what jockeys, trainers, or owners, say, well. I take no heed at all unless it’s something in confidence. Even if they know the score ( and this may isn’t always the case, imo) they are are not obliged to tell the whole world about it.
There are plenty of folk, who are getting paid to be part of the media circus, for to tell all the stories, without the key players getting themselves involved in the baloney and cackle, imo.may I ask, is it a well-known fact that Ruby chose to ride KS?
Yes it is. It was widely reported at the time that Findlay wanted him to choose his GC mount before KS and Denman had their respective final prep races, so the same jockey who would be riding at Cheltenham could ride at Newbury/Ascot also. Ruby was quoted in a number of papers stating it was a difficult decision but said "how do you get off a Gold Cup winner?"
The impression I got was that he’d hoped for longer to make his mind up, i.e. having the opportunity to ride both horses in their final preps, see what the long-range forecast for the Cheltenham going was likely to be etc, but his hand was forced.
And I’m sure it’s also not lost on Paul Barber that he and the Walsh family have been good friends for years, and it was he who was instrumental in getting Ruby to ride for Nicholls under the ongoing ‘gentleman’s agreement’ circumstances in the first place!
I wouldn’t like to be in the position of being a trainer/jockey where one of your main owners also owns your training establishment – keeping everybody happy all of the time must be quite a feat in itself…also when you’ve lost a race it’s important not to take the limelight away from the winning horse [remember when Dessie fell in the King George and connections wouldn’t announce his retirement because they wanted the day to belong to The Fellow…]. I would imagine that Ruby would have liked to say that the Kauto Star he’s just ridden wasn’t the horse that he’s won on previosly….however, I do think that all he needed to do was re state the fact that you don’t get off a Gold Cup winner….the fascinating part of the race to me is the way that Neptune Collonges ran; methinks there’s a lot of politics going on at Ditcheat at the moment.
"I am sure it is not lost on Mr Barber that Walsh abandoned his horse. And Harry FIndlay is on record as implying before the race that Sam Thomas suited the horse better than anyone – make of that what you will. "
He is hardly going to say annything different seen as so Wlash picked the other horse – make of that what you will….
JohnJ.
Just something that has made me think….Choc Thornton won’t speak to presenters until debriefing the connections, which I find to be very fair and admirable and avoids any other Tommo-esque moments such as with Tony Dobbin winning a chase not long ago where the owner was virtually barrelled out of the way.
Now if Choc was ever to win a Gold Cup, I wonder if he’d (quite rightly) tell the presenter to stuff off immediately!!
So when did he manage to debrief connections after winning on Katchit and Neuphar Collonges? Did he shout to them in the stand as he punched the air in delight going past the post?
As I’ve said, I haven’t watched the racing from last week back yet – if he gave an interview to the TV presenters first then I didn’t know about it. I was too busy being at the races myself!
All I know is that in the past he’s been known to be very firm on the subject of who gets priority about the first debriefing. If he did indeed pull up post-race and give an interview, I will be looking with interest to see how much or indeed how little he told them when I (finaly!!!) get a chance to look back over the week’s racing.
As per his normal practice, Robert Thornton wasn’t interviewed until after he’d dismounted and spoken to connections. IIRC the C4 interviewer(s) walked across the paddock with him as he went to weigh in post-race.
Thanks to all for their replies.
Ditcheat seems quite a strange set-up to me. I suppose there will be some significant changes before the next Cheltenham Festival.
We’ll have to wait and see, imo.
Btw, where was Thommo operating? I didn’t see him on the course.
Personally I’d quite like to see Ferdy win it with Aces Four next year with G Lee up. Nice blokes who speak the truth and bollocks to the Dicheat politics. Something new please.
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Personally I’d quite like to see Ferdy win it with Aces Four next year with G Lee up. Nice blokes who speak the truth and bollocks to the Dicheat politics. Something new please.
Which is why he was fined 4 grand by the Jockey Club for the Kenyon Confronts fiasco?
Purrrleease!
Which is why he was fined 4 grand by the Jockey Club for the Kenyon Confronts fiasco?- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.