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Anyone have an opinion on the jumping ability of their better horses ?
They seem to struggle and are often ponderous or jump at an angle at their fences.Which horses are you thinking of?
Only Captain Chris and Fingal Bay spring to mind for me.
Which horses are you thinking of?
Only Captain Chris and Fingal Bay spring to mind for me.
Menorah struggles.Wishful Thinking has struggled ( last time out win was a terrible race ). A common phrase in the race reports is ‘ hit ‘ or ‘ not fluent ‘ or ‘ jumped to ****** ‘
Last season I thought (wrongly, now, I believe) that maybe R Johnson’s nerve was going and it was getting through to his mounts.
I just watched FB’s run today and I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like it – he seemed almost bug-eyed with fear at times and I’m amazed there haven’t been loud cries of ‘got at.’
I’m not saying he was but that was weird, especially for a horse who jumped with such confidence last twice at tough tracks. His first victory was at Exeter, in a bumper, and he’s won right-handed over hurdles.
Very, very odd
Interesting observation from @TomMarch on twitter about King’s Theatre siring awkward jumpers:
Riverside Theatre, Cue Card, Captain Chris, Menorah, The Minack, Wichita Lineman
Interesting observation from @TomMarch on twitter about King’s Theatre siring awkward jumpers:
Riverside Theatre, Cue Card, Captain Chris, Menorah, The Minack, Wichita Lineman
Riverside Theatre is a good jumper, but has been over inadequate trips at Cheltenham. I’d discount the Ryanair.
Cue Card is only 6 and was impressive last time in his jumping.Captain Chris and Menorah are out of Strong Gale mares ( breathing ? )
Fingal Bay – don’t know the dams side at all.IMHO I think Johnson’s bottle as gone.
His mounts do make a lot of mistakes or the races I watch with him in his horses make a lot of mistakes. Maybe I am just unlucky with the races I watch but I tend not to back anything he rides now.
He almost came off Wishful Thinking at Cheltenahm the other day.
Horse or jockey?You’ve got a point NI. I remember seeing a few years ago Johnson’s strike rate much better over hurdles than fences. Is it any better now?
EDIT:
Very little (if any) difference between strike rates these days, so doesn’t seem to be a problem with Richard’s "bottle".Value Is EverythingRichard Johnson is still one of the best jockeys out there imo
If I had a jumps horse, i’d want Johnson to ride it
DEEMAN
I also thought had he been "got at" when watching the race. From an earlier stage it did not look good. A watching brief for now.
i do regard richard johnson as a decent jockey, especially in a finish, but he is somewhat hesitant at jumping a fence/hurdle compared to the likes of mccoy, walsh and geraghty.
i would say that the hesitance of johnson plays a strong part in the horse making mistakes, especially at the penultimate and last fences/hurdles. however, horses like menorah are just poor jumpers within themselves.
when you do compare the hobbs horses jumping to other trainers like nicholls and henderson though, there is just no comparison.
Johnson is very strong in a finish, but it’s the previous few miles that bother me !
I think Johnson’s chase stats are bolstered by riding for Tim Vaughan in non competitive races.
Over fences, Johnson is on 18% for Hobbs. Geraghty on 31% for Henderson, Walsh 27% for Nicholls.
I m awaiting the chase debut of colour squadron. He seems to be be keeping this horse wrapped up for something big. The Arkle I am thinking could slip under the radar. Big price and is sure to improve for a fence or two.
The Hobbs horses tend to be disappointing sorts, they look the part but don’t deliver at the top level over fences , whether that’s got anything to do with Johnson i don’t know.
Emma Lavelle’s are similar and i’d like to see what Alan King’s achieved if Wayne Hutchinson was stable jockey, he’s very underrated.
Johnson is very strong in a finish, but it’s the previous few miles that bother me !
I think Johnson’s chase stats are bolstered by riding for Tim Vaughan in non competitive races.
Over fences, Johnson is on 18% for Hobbs. Geraghty on 31% for Henderson, Walsh 27% for Nicholls.
Henderson and Nicholls have better horses Mark, so Ruby and Barry will have a better strike rate than Richard. It is the chase stat to hurdles that should tell the story. Was a time, after coming back from a bad fall/injury Johnson had a worse SR over fences than hurdles, which suggested wasn’t as good at fences. However, that’s changed and there’s little or no difference now; with a 5 year record 1% higher over
fences
than hurdles. Ruby Walsh is 2% better over
hurdles
than his fences SR; Barry Geraghty 2% better over
fences
than hurdles.
Value Is EverythingJohnson is very strong in a finish, but it’s the previous few miles that bother me !
I think Johnson’s chase stats are bolstered by riding for Tim Vaughan in non competitive races.
Over fences, Johnson is on 18% for Hobbs. Geraghty on 31% for Henderson, Walsh 27% for Nicholls.
Henderson and Nicholls have better horses Mark, so Ruby and Barry will have a better strike rate than Richard. It is the chase stat to hurdles that should tell the story. Was a time, after coming back from a bad fall/injury Johnson had a worse SR over fences than hurdles, which suggested wasn’t as good at fences. However, that’s changed and there’s little or no difference now; with a 5 year record 1% higher over
fences
than hurdles. Ruby Walsh is 2% better over
hurdles
than his fences SR; Barry Geraghty 2% better over
fences
than hurdles.
Geraghty and Walsh are better jockeys. It’s not just about the horses. Geraghty and AP are better jockeys than Mick Fitz, so Hendersons stats and prize money have improved in recent seasons.
( Still wish he’d send more horses over staying trips )This is why it pisses me off when reporters say that a jockey has missed a win whilst being banned because the horse he would have ridden won under another jockey. The banned jockey might have rode a different race and lost.
What you say is all true Mark, Barry and Ruby are (imo) better jockeys than Richard (we agree). But the point I am trying to make is:
If Johnson’s bottle for jumping fences has gone
, then you’d expect him to achieve a higher (possibly a lot higher) strike rate over hurdles than fences… and that is NOT the case. Conclusion being Johnson has NOT lost his bottle for fences; he’s just not as good a jockey as Ruby, AP or Barry.
Value Is Everything
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