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The strongest since AP , as good as he is he’s still learning , hopefully Haiti Colours is the horse to take him to the top table , I didnt think Townsend had the greatest Cheltenham festival , the number of winners Mullins has can always cover these up , the most improved is Skelton , he really struggled for a while at Cheltenham , now he’s prob one of the best judges of it
I agree about Skelton. He’s improved massively this past couple of years.
As you say, he used to be dreadful at Cheltenham but now he’s one of the absolute best from the front or back.
Just a steady grinder of a jockey for me. Strong finishing drive aside, he’s totally average imo.
I already said in an earlier post.
I think Townend, Cobden and Skelton are all comfortably better.
I think O’Keefe is on his way to being better also.
I know it’s unpopular opinion but Bowen is just slightly above average in my opinion. Strong finishing drive aside, I don’t think he’s all that talented.
People keep saying he just needs better horses but I think his weakness’s would be fully on display when under more pressure at a top yard.
His ride in the Hennessey today and the Betfair chase last week is just complete journeyman stuff.
He sits out the back all too often like a Carberry or Spencer and the less said about those 2, the better.
Townsends riding prime horses , isn’t as strong , Cobden no , he’s very tidy but not as good , Skelton is the most improved but not as talented , Okeefe is fine but isn’t even yard no 1 , I’m struggling to see your view , I can pull up any number of winners he’s rode thus year no one else would have won on
He often makes it look as if nobody else would win on them as he makes it all look so difficult.
His winning ride on Wade Out was praised to the heavens even though he hit every fence on the track over the course of 2 circuits.
Townend is riding top horses but he’s Mr Reliable and gets the job done 9 times out of 10. Not an easy thing to do with the enormous pressure of a top yard. Ruby was the far classier jockey but fell at the last way too often.
Cobden has that silky swagger. A class act and a level above Bowen. He’s just suffering from Nicholls stable going down the pan.
He should 100% be Skeltons replacement in a couple of years.Skelton has improved enormously and can ride both from the back or front better than Bowen. He’s under enormous pressure riding for his brothers first trainers championship and has been phenomenal.
It’s ok saying Bowen just needs to be in a top yard but the same thing was said about Twiston Davies a few years back and he was an absolute shambles. He never fully recovered from that either imo.
Bowens had 2 huge chances in the feature race this past 2 weeks and has hit every fence on the track both times.
Sorry Cobden is no where near a level above , if he was he,d be Champion , what did you think about Towsends ride in the Fighting today … , I’ve not mentioned Twis Dav , he’s ok , nothing more
“He often makes it look as if nobody else would win on them as he makes it all look so difficult.
His winning ride on Wade Out was praised to the heavens even though he hit every fence on the track over the course of 2 circuits.”
I thought that too. Even the commentator said at one point something like “Bowen looks for a stride…and can’t find one” as the horse met the obstacle completely wrong and battered it. It’s the jockey’s job to see a stride and that’s far, far more important than being “strong in a finish” which is overrated (strong how? Bashing the horse harder with the air cushioned tickling stick than everyone else? “Pushing” (pushing what??) with your hands? Rocking your lower leg forward and back so it looks like you’re doing something? I would think strength is the core strength to stay balanced and low when you’re despite to sit up and get a breath and the inward squeezing motion of your calves, which is imperceptible to the viewer). So just do your
job. Maybe the horse wasn’t helping him much, and one mistake seeing a stride is forgiveable, but if the horse lacks scope and is not a naturally good jumper you need to be setting it right at nearly all of them.Skelton is pretty good at it as befits the son of an Olympic showjumper.
I like Townend- most important bit is not screwing it up and not hindering the horse.
Danny Mullins also good- can judge pace, ride from front or back, good over fences, tactical nous to race in the pack or the scenic route, knows when to attack. Kappa Jy Pyke’s beginners win a good example.I agree greenasgrass.
While he is extremely strong in a finishing drive, he just fails to get clean rounds of jumping from horses too much for my liking. Fails to see the stride too often.
How many times do you see Bowen with the race put to bed before the last, He just always makes it look so difficult imo. It all appears to happen with him in the dying strides just way too often.
When he gets one up he’s hailed as the second coming of Christ but what about all the occasions he’s out the back and missing every fence.
Skelton often does get fantastic rounds of jumping from horses. It’s probably part him and part his brothers training due to their show jumping background.
“what did you think about Towsends ride in the Fighting today”
Good. Got the horse settled which I thought might be a problem especially first time out. Had the wit not to follow the line taken by CH and thus stayed out of trouble. Met every hurdle either perfectly or nearly so. Stayed neat and balanced in the saddle the whole way round and didn’t use the accelerator or the brake at all till he was ready to make his challenge, so maximum efficiency. When ready to go, ramped up the pressure steadily so didn’t unbalance his horse. Well positioned throughout and gave his horse every opportunity when asked to pass Golden Ace.
Not his fault the horse was either not fit enough (not sure), or not good enough (quite possible), or possibly too green to know that he’s supposed to put his head down and fight to get past, which he has never had to do before.I noticed that Anzadam did actually run on OK through the line and maybe past Golden Ace then…I would be very interested to see if the penny drops next time he’s in a finish, and whether he has the engine to do it if he knows what to do. He doesn’t have a monster engine but maybe enough to be competitive? Hurdling technique not perfect yet but looks improving and improveable. Think horse probably learned a lot there. Whether he will lose the battle but win the war, or just turn out to be not quite good enough for open G1s … could go either way.
Not a thing wrong with that ride on Anzadam today. He gave it every chance to win and maybe it’s just a lack of a run or maybe he’s just not good enough.
I don’t think he wins the Champion Hurdle this year but do think he’ll reverse the form with Golden Ace when they meet again.
“Skelton often does get fantastic rounds of jumping from horses. It’s probably part him and part his brothers training due to their show jumping background.”
I think showjumping at a high level as a child is a massive advantage. I used to jump ponies a bit but wasn’t great- I was hit and miss seeing a stride and wasn’t particularly effective at setting the pony up for a fence even when I did see one.
I remember being at a show, in a lower grade class with my pony when my mum said, come and watch this wee boy jump. He was a few years younger than me and, I think younger than some of the other children in the grade A 12.2 (the smallest pony height class)…one of the smallest riders. He rode brilliantly, meeting everything right at speed and judging the turns perfectly cutting the corners as much as he could without losing momentum, a fast flowing clear round. Mum turned to me and said, “There you go, wasn’t that lovely to watch? That’s Con Power’s son”. (It was Robbie Power).
Con Power was an Irish Army showjumper and like so many of them, a marvellous neat, strong, elegant rider in perfect harmony with the horse. John Ledingham was the same and Francis Connors -he wasn’t in the army but had that style.“I’d argue he’s unlikely to get a better chance to win a grade 1”
You could be right. If he was a monster talent like C Hill at that age, he would have powered past the other two and left them for dead even if green or unfit. He isn’t. But, you never know. He’s only 5. If Townend had pushed him up to the front earlier and used up every ounce and maxed out the whip allowance he might have won. But wouldn’t have learned so much and might have been a little bit sickened. Even when State Man started winning open grade 1s the trainer was saying, not the finished article yet, a work in progress. Not saying Anzadam is as good. But still, worth continuing the project.
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