- This topic has 212 replies, 56 voices, and was last updated 17 years, 4 months ago by
.
- Posts
I totally disagree that he jumped the fence on buckle end I think you need glasses to be honest or are talking through your pocket.
He was flat out and when he realised the horse was wrong he slipped his reigns in an instant to give him his head and the best opportunity to correct himself on landing……….basic basic common sense and text book stuff….Incidentally Sam went out the side door before getting the opportunity to hold on to anyhing but fresh air and having done so myself a few times I can assure you when a horse jinks sideways even cantering your chances of staying on are not too clever….Big Bucks isn’t a classic jumper by any means and has been known to jump left but when they do that then jink right..next sop is the grass below….bit like one of those bulls you get in some bars where the guy sends you one way and the bull the other…… wouldn’t be talking through a hole in your pocket by any chance?
Absolute hogwash, FoF.
Thomas did his trademark throwing the reins at the horse and holding onto buckle only – he’s utterly useless over a fence. If he had hold of its head he would have stayed on it, end of. It’s basic stuff, for God’s sake, and if you can’t recognise that as an alleged former jockey then that’s worrying. Not to mention that he knew the creature was a dodgy jumper anyway and it’s jumping had been ropey to say the least throughout the race.
No talking through the pocket at all – not only did I not have a penny on the horse, I don’t think it would have won anyway. Thomas still cocked up utterly though.
However, I do believe that Thomas landed on his arse through being inept over fences – soemthing which is becoming more and more frequent. It’s not at all unusual for him mind you, he’s just becoming more polished at putting the horse or himself on the ground nowadays. I wouldn’t let him ride my bike.
Geezus now I’m an ex-jockey….I was wondering who I was, I must have landed on my head mate and be suffering from amnesia…. wouldn’t happen to know if I was any good would you…………Alleged my backside mate……have owned and ridden out and even schooled at a few yards through choice and opportunity but never at any time did I make that claim..My Best friend was a Jockey and trainer before he was killed in an accident…I think you are confusing me with someone else………probably grasshopper who I hear loves to ride
Hogwash eh.ok lets put this put this in perspective for you….what you are saying is that ex-top jockey and current top trainer Paul Nicholls is employing a totally useless jockey to ride the one of the best 2 horses in the country in Denman and Kauto Star? That is pure and utter bullsit and if you think you know better than PN you should open a yard tomorrow. The lad has had a bit of bad luck which might well cost him the mount on Master Minded if the owner isn’t happy but if he was as useless as you are saying he wouldn’t have lasted 5 minutes as PN wouldn’t risk his buisness for anyone he thought wasn’t up to standard………game over mate do yourself a favour stop trying to judge jockeys and let common sense tell you that these guys out there know what they are doing and to critisise from your armchair is the easiest thing in the world.
Sam Thomas is far from my favourite jockey but does anyone else think that Nicholls is handling the situation quite badly? The RP is reporting that he will not make any decision on who rides Master Minded in the Tingle Creek until Tuesday or Wednesday.
Surely with such high profile horses like Master Minded and Noland down to run in grade 1s next weekend, Nicholls should be backing his jockey to the hilt. Confidence is so important to a jockey and I can’t help but think that Nicholls’ comments are eroding Thomas’ already fragile confidence.
As I’ve said, I’m no great fan of him as a horseman, but all these front page headlines sprawled across the RP are a bit over the top. A lot of Nicholls’ horses have been running poorly over the past few weeks and the jockey should not have to shoulder all of the blame for this.
What exactly did Paul Nicholls say, regarding Sam Thomas’ ride on Kauto Star last week? ? ?
Paul Nicholls hasn’t directly criticized the ride Sam gave Kauto, but he’s kind of insinuated that he wasn’t happy with it.
Here’s a few of his comments about the race. Some are pasted from RP online, some are from the BBC and CH4, which I can’t remember word for word, but none have been taken out of context.
“He was on the inside and not really happy, whereas at Down Royal he had a lot more room and was tanking along.” RP ONLINE
“It was very difficult for Sam, as he had only ridden the horse once before. Denman is a more straightforward horse and he faced an incredibly hard job on Kauto. Ruby knows the horse well and he’ll hopefully be back for the King George.” RP ONLINE
“…It’s easy to look back on things and say you would do them differently. You have to remember that Ruby has ridden the horse seventeen, eighteen times, compared to Sam who has only ridden the horse once before…” BBC AINTREE 23/11/08
“…Just because Sam has had a couple of bad days and I’m not sending out too many winners, it doesn’t make him a bad jockey and me a bad trainer overnight…” CH4 NEWBURY 29/11/08
Hope that helps, Gaz.
I criticized his ride on Kauto and I’m not going to repeat myself. My opinions can be found in ‘The Betfair’ thread in the big race section.
I don’t think it was the best ride he could’ve given the horse and Paul Nicholls has somewhat echoed my opinion. I had reservations about Sam being aboard Kauto prior to the race. Not because I believe Sam Thomas is a bad jockey, but because Ruby and Kauto appear to have developed such a special bond over the past few years.
It doesn’t mean that Kauto will suddenly saunter to his third King George and never lose his jockey again becuase Ruby is back, but I don’t think he would’ve made the same errors Sam did.
It’s sometimes the small things in life that make a big difference and in The Betfair it’s quite possible that the mistakes Sam made were the difference between success and failure.He did nothing wrong on Big Bucks, in my opinion. He settled the horse beautifully and got him jumping. He produced the horse at the right time and would’ve won but for a mistake from the notorious erratic jumper.
I think it’s harsh to say he should’ve stayed on. The horse suddenly swerved right a few strides after the fence. Sam was unbalanced after the mistake and he duly got ejected out the left door. I’d like to see any jockey try and stay in the saddle after that mistake.
Sam’s a top class jockey, no doubt. PN doesn’t hire and persevere with average riders. Sam has ridden a plethora of big race winners, none bigger than the Gold Cup, and he’ll overcome this. It will make him a better jockey to have endured this period of his professional life.
He should keep the ride on Master Minded in the Tingle Creek. MM is a lovely horse to ride – a straightforward, good jumper with lots of class. An ideal opprtunity for Sam to regain his confidence under big race pressure.
Paul Nicholls and Clive Smith shouldn’t lose faith now.
I was at Kempton a couple of Decembers ago when Sam was catapulted over the head of the horse he was riding; when he got to his feet everyone applauded [it was in front of the stands]..what a difference a couple of years makes [he wasn’t on a hot favourite, however]
Some people are suffering from memory loss at the moment, and one of them is P.Nicholls. The best 3m chaser in the last 10yrs, won
one of the most prestgious races in the world in last seasons Gold cup,
ridden by Sam Thomas.Perfectly.The poor lad is being slated for something that happens every day on every National hunt racetrack in the world, the horse he is riding falls.Thank goodness ther were no fatalities
as some folk would have Sam hung by his "sweetbread"! people need to calm down.The best thing that could happen is to let Sam ride Master minded and hopefully win, we all no theres no guarantee of that happening,
thats racing.What i dont want to see is "Sam we cant trust you on the "Master" in the Tingle creek,but you can ride "Twist"! "Oh you say you won the race for us last year on "Twist"!! Short memorys!I don’t know if ye remember this but a few years ago arount the time Azertioup was around things went again Paul Nicholls for a couple of months and he came out blaming Ruby…..Same thing here,The only difference is Ruby is a real Jockey and Sma Thomas isn’t fit to polish his boots. Like it ofr lump it he is extremely over-rated. Gets unseated way too easy.
Here is a question…. If you owned Master Minded who would you book as jockey? I would not be booking ST. I wouldn’t want to risk my horse’s chances just to try and raise the confidence of a jockey. I’d be calling either AP or GLee.
I’d go For AP every time he is avalaible for sure. But Paul Carberry would be a super replacement if he was free too.And would suit the horse
I’m more interested in whether Mr Hales has the confidence in him to ride Noland; there’s not much that connections don’t know about horses and the riding of them and the safety of their horse is paramount to them.
Geezus now I’m an ex-jockey….I was wondering who I was, I must have landed on my head mate and be suffering from amnesia…. wouldn’t happen to know if I was any good would you…………Alleged my backside mate……have owned and ridden out and even schooled at a few yards through choice and opportunity but never at any time did I make that claim..My Best friend was a Jockey and trainer before he was killed in an accident…I think you are confusing me with someone else………probably grasshopper who I hear loves to ride
Hogwash eh.ok lets put this put this in perspective for you….what you are saying is that ex-top jockey and current top trainer Paul Nicholls is employing a totally useless jockey to ride the one of the best 2 horses in the country in Denman and Kauto Star? That is pure and utter bullsit and if you think you know better than PN you should open a yard tomorrow. The lad has had a bit of bad luck which might well cost him the mount on Master Minded if the owner isn’t happy but if he was as useless as you are saying he wouldn’t have lasted 5 minutes as PN wouldn’t risk his buisness for anyone he thought wasn’t up to standard………game over mate do yourself a favour stop trying to judge jockeys and let common sense tell you that these guys out there know what they are doing and to critisise from your armchair is the easiest thing in the world.
Fists, when your out of your depth your out of your depth. I have a feeling your going to lose this argument (I know sod all about the technicalities of riding I should add)..
Sam Thomas is far from my favourite jockey but does anyone else think that Nicholls is handling the situation quite badly? The RP is reporting that he will not make any decision on who rides Master Minded in the Tingle Creek until Tuesday or Wednesday.
Surely with such high profile horses like Master Minded and Noland down to run in grade 1s next weekend, Nicholls should be backing his jockey to the hilt. Confidence is so important to a jockey and I can’t help but think that Nicholls’ comments are eroding Thomas’ already fragile confidence.
As I’ve said, I’m no great fan of him as a horseman, but all these front page headlines sprawled across the RP are a bit over the top. A lot of Nicholls’ horses have been running poorly over the past few weeks and the jockey should not have to shoulder all of the blame for this.
Here Here!!! I think PN should take lessons on the art of talking without talking……this can’t be doing anything for Sam’s confidence.
I think anyone who blames Sam for getting unseated on Saturday are being unfair to the man. Turning for home I am sure those who backed him were counting their winnings but the horse came under pressure very quickly and was all over the shop like you expect from a tired horse…looked to me like the slightest mistake would see him on the floor…..Sam did very well just to get him in with a chance of winning.
If I was going to be critical it would be that Sam was very slow to see what was happening right in front of his nose when he followed Varasi through on the far turn, Verasi was being driven for his life and back peddling and Sam had to snatch his mount up and go round him. He had more tham ample time to take his horse out of harms way but failed to do so. He was probaly having a chat to his horse or something instead of watching where he was going and although these things happen everyday, no doubt PN will have given him a few harsh words about it.
If I owned Master Minded I’d be happy to have Sam Thomas ride him.
People do indeed have short memories and they are fickle.
Sam is just going through one of those spells at the moment he needs to just ride through it and he will do. The last thing he wants is his employers not backing him.
I think the criticism of Sam Thomas is way over the top. He is a fine jockey, and like all jockeys, no matter how experienced or inexperienced they are, has a few off days. Give the man a break.
Gambling Only Pays When You're Winning
Jockey’s cut each others throats all the time to pick-up plum rides – it’s always happened, so I don’t see why we need to shed crocodile tears for Sam Thomas. Loyalty is not a common commodity in the weighing room – it’s acknowledged that it’s every man for himself.
As far as Master Minded is concerned, the bottom line is this:
If Tony McCoy is available to ride your horse in the Tingle Creek, do you ignore him and instead give the ride to a low-confidence Sam Thomas?
What would you do in Clive Smith or Paul Nicholls shoes? It’s a no- brainer, as far as I’m concerned.
Jockey’s cut each others throats all the time to pick-up plum rides – it’s always happened, so I don’t see why we need to shed crocodile tears for Sam Thomas. Loyalty is not a common commodity in the weighing room – it’s acknowledged that it’s every man for himself.
As far as Master Minded is concerned, the bottom line is this:
If Tony McCoy is available to ride your horse in the Tingle Creek, do you ignore him and instead give the ride to a low-confidence Sam Thomas?
What would you do in Clive Smith or Paul Nicholls shoes? It’s a no- brainer, as far as I’m concerned.
Nicholls employs Thomas for a reason. The lad is easily good enough I don’t remember anyone slagging him off last year when he won numerous big races for Nicholls.
Just because the guy isn’t having the best of spells its no reason to shove him aside.
Nicholls’ horses haven’t been finishing their races of late as they usually do (in the main) so maybe Paul Nicholls would be well advised to consider the relative wellbeing of his string.
Sam is being made a scapegoat. I backed Big Buck’s on Saturday yet I don’t blame Sam at all for the horse’s defeat infact I thought Sam gave him a superb ride.
As for McCoy it wasn’t that long ago that some people were saying he wasn’t a big race jockey and could only ride certain types of horses and best at riding low grade ones. A four timer at Newbury and suddenly the man is god again.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.