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CAS (and Miss Woodford) have it right – watch Derek O’Connor and a few other Irish ones and come back and tell me they don’t ride like professionals.
No one has a serious issue with David Maxwell riding and Gina Andrews (getting crucified by Animal Rights campaigners on Twitter) completely outrode Maxwell in last year’s Aintree Foxhunters.
It’s in Conditional Jockeys’ Chases where you see the dodgier horsemanship most of the time.
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It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"I believe the whip should be retained but Gina Andrews does give the abolitionists plenty of ammunition. Her whip use in the 2017 Kim Muir was not good.
And yes, I did back second placed Pendra ridden by Derek O’Connor who stayed within the rules. It cost me a lot of money and I am still sore about it!
I saw a report some years ago which included deeply concerning figures comparing fatalities of horses ridden by professional v amateurs or conditionals. Concluded that the increased risk was something like 25%. It also speculated about reasons for this, suggesting that, in addition to the obvious likelihood of inexperienced jockeys making mistakes, they were also less likely to recognise when a horse was distressed and therefore take longer to pull up, increasing risk of serious injury or death. I have never been able to find the thing since so did my own calculations for about 3 months a couple of years ago. This was more or less in line with the report findings, taking into account the fact that the majority of horses are ridden by professionals. That the original report can’t be found and that no similar study has been conducted since (as far as I can tell) makes me sceptical of CAS’s certainty that the BHA is doing all it can as this is exactly the sort of thing that should be being researched.
“watch Derek O’Connor and a few other Irish ones and come back and tell me they don’t ride like professionals”
“LIKE” professionals. They are still not professionals. There are plenty of excellent drivers on the road but they don’t get the chance to “have a bash” at taking part in a Grand Prix. That’s because F1 is a professionally-run sport, not one dominated by people who regard racing as some sort of club rather than an industry employing thousands where the workforce (human and equine) risk their lives every time day.
“No one has a serious issue with David Maxwell riding”
There is literally an entire thread on this forum about him! Inadequate rides resulting in dodgy results is another issue. Certainly not confined to amateurs of course but stewards are not only likely to be more forgiving in the case of an amateur making an utter hames but the consequences are virtually negligible. What does a four-day ban matter if you’re only riding at weekends and don’t rely on it for your livelihood anyway?
I realise I am in a minority and that many enjoy the whole “National Velvet” mentality surrounding “gentleman (and lady) riders” but I would rather see the sport run professionally. I never bet on amateur races. I am sure the most vociferous supporters are bookmakers.
Tonge, Derek O’Connor has ridden something like 3,000 Irish point to point winners and plenty of winners under Rules as well, including Grade 1s. It is a little insulting to question his ability.
As for conditional riders, how are they supposed to learn?
“I realise I am in a minority and that many enjoy the whole “National Velvet” mentality surrounding “gentleman (and lady) riders” but I would rather see the sport run professionally.”
You’ve got me all wrong there, Tonge – I am hardly your “tally-ho,” “jolly hockey sticks” type.
“Like professionals” is a turn of phrase.
Derek O’Connor is better than various professionals, Jack Andrews WAS a professional, but it suited him to give it up – he’s very talented.
Tomorrow’s Kim Muir is full of talent in the saddle.
You can’t simply put them all in a box marked “amateur” – there’s literally two stone difference in ability between the best and the worst of them.
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It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"The discussion so far has focused mainly on the amateur jockeys aspect of the National Hunt Chase. I agree that there are plenty of excellent amateurs around, and that the word “amateur” possibly does not convey their expertise well. However, I do not think this invalidates the general points Tonge is making.
We need to consider the race conditions as a whole though. The horses contesting novice chases are less experienced in general than those contesting open races. I know there can be very experienced novices, and also that inexperienced horses can be very good jumpers. But that is not true in general.
Cheltenham is under a huge magnifying glass, and the National Hunt Chase in particular has been good at attracting negative publicity in recent years. Restricting a fiercely competitive chase over an extreme distance to horses that are likely to be inexperienced, and who are being ridden by “amateurs”, seems like needlessly inviting trouble to me.
Although its conditions have been tinkered with already, I maintain the National Hunt Chase would benefit from more fundamental change.
I can forgive the animal rights lot for getting hysterical about a horse dying at Cheltenham ironically on the day two died at Sedgefield.
But surely here at TRF we are all aware that moderate horses run in Chases at 3m4f plus in the mud virtually every week all winter and many are partnered by inexperienced conditionals to get weight off.
There’s a 4m Chase at Hexham tomorrow.
Given that, isn’t this NH Chase discussion a little out of proportion?
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It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"Such races are never restricted only to novices Ian, nor are they taking place in such a highly charged competitive environment.
Befair has clarified that no horses died at Sedgefield on Tuesday
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