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A further weakness in whatever defence Michael McAlister may put up hereafter is that, for all that he is still a claiming rider, he is certainly more than capable of getting even difficult animals to score for him.
Richard Hoiles highlighted the most conspicuous example of this on RUK last night, namely McAlister’s terrific handling of Jonathan Haynes’ Jonjo cast-off Silver Dagger during summer 2006. An absolute law to himself, intractable without eyeshields on and not much fun even with them, McAlister’s horsemanship was suitably well developed and galvanic at that point to get Silver Dagger to score four wins from five starts in competitive enough handicap chases.
I’m not sure I can quite see how the young man could have gone from those dazzling efforts to being so unsure of himself in a finish as to get his reins, whip hand, etc., into such a dreadful tizzy yesterday, but I await further developments on the race with interest.
gc
Jeremy Grayson. Son of immigrant. Adoptive father of two. Metadata librarian. Freelance point-to-point / horse racing writer, analyst and commentator wonk. Loves music, buses, cats, the BBC Micro, ale. Advocate of CBT, PACE and therapeutic parenting. Aspergers.
Hello,
This incident just highlights a race can be. if required, FIXED.
In this case we have a definitive reason, a motive.
Surely a whip round in the weighing room would have put Racing in a better light, rather than a group of jockeys apparently agreeing to let a certain person win a race, a race may I add, that people like you and me might be betting on. Plus the cost to owners, trainers of the horses entered into the race with a prearranged result.
The fixing of this race is so blatant, it is a wonder how racing keeps any sort of credibility!!
regards,
doyley
I suppose experience will tell us to avoid such races, or even
take advantage of the high percentage of favourable results for the departing/comeback personality.However, if there was a proved perfidious presence, then it should be treated the same as any other case. Because to condone it, even with the relevance of the race, would be extremely hypocritical.
I didn`t see the race so I cannot make my own judgement. Some on this thread seem to think there was no misdeamour and others do so. I would like to think that the ones that think something was amiss wouldn`t condone it, because then don`t moan about similar circumstances in other races.
Lastly, good luck to Mr Dobbin after a fruitful career, and managing to bow out in a physical well state from a highly dangerous game.
For anyone that hasn’t seen the race, I’m sure it must be up on youtube by now.
Think this might be the link:
Once I heard Dobbin had decided during the Aintree meeting to hang up his boots at Carlisle on Thursday I knew a certain winner lay in wait, especially when I heard all family and friends were going to watch him ride in a race named after him. I would have staked my mortgage on it which in the current climate shows just how confident I was.
Surely the decent thing to do is ride a winner and then say you have retired. The bookies and punters knew full well what was going to happen, and the race descended into farce. The race comment for the runner-up in the Racing Post is as follows;
"chased winner throughout, hit 3 out, shaken up next, edged right and rider dropped reins run-in (I’m sure it said twice in todays’s Post), kept on"
It was quite embarrassing to watch when McAlistar realised his horse was going to catch Dobbin despite his lack of riding out, so then dropped his reins and changed his whip from hand to hand (even though the horse was going straight). If Fist Of Fury couldn’t see this then there is no hope for the sport.
I fully respect Tony Dobbin but this wasn’t a good way to retire.
You guys obviously haven’t watched McAlister ride before he is close to being useless………… even so if you don’t want to beat someone you don’t track him for 2 miles and get within striking range…nor would he have been posting before 3 out (if any you armchair jockeys even know what that is)…..this lad incidentally has ridden 2 winners in over 150 rides and has been stuffed several times in similar finishes. I wouldn’t have 20p on any horse he rides.
The fact is the second ploughed through the third last and was out jumped at the second last………fair play to him he’s trying to get this huge horse balanced going to the last but the 3 fences are very close together and to be frank he did mess up which is only to be expected from a bad rider………Lenny Lungo got rid of him for the same reason…….Barnes always uses the cheapest jockeys around he is one miserable git…the lad is useless and only gets rides for Barnes and the odd one for JC Haynes who has the grand total of ZERO winners this season
Sure had there been another jockey on the second he would have won but you guys expect every jockey to be Ruby Walsh.Like the Srewards you are looking at the race and saying he should have done this or he should have done that………Ok Dobbin was lucky there wasn’t a decent jockey on the second but to say the boy wasn’t trying is absolute BS.
Barnes is one miserable piece of work and Dobbin used to ride for him..they are not frineds…….anything but..Barnes takes advantage of owners and never uses decent jockeys as he’s too tight to pay a retainer…no way would Barnes stop a horse for Tony Dobbin or anyone else but himself.
FistofFury,
You must have been a great loss to the Diplomatic Service.
Only joking…..you carry on saying it as you see it…it makes for interesting reading. At least you’ll never get splinters up your butt for sitting on the fence.
regards,
LlanrumneyBoy
It would have been more fitting for Tony Dobbin to have retired at Ayr on Scots National day as he rode stacks of winners for the Richards family on that particular course.
You guys obviously haven’t watched McAlister ride before he is close to being useless…………
42 career wins under Rules, plus a smattering in point-to-points before that, in the last five years suggests that’s not strictly true. Guy Opperman or David Verco he ain’t.
this lad incidentally has ridden 2 winners in over 150 rides
This season doesn’t tell half the story. In 2006-7 he returned stats of 8 wins from 31 for Evelyn and Arthur Slack alone – this year he managed two rides before becoming the latest of quite a number of northern riders to fall out with this canny but volatile operation.
In addition, most of his other sources of regular rides, in particular Steve Marshall, Maurice Barnes, Jonathan Haynes and Ian McMath, have all endured seasons ranging from below-par to bloody terrible – not always an awful lot he can do about that if they’re lining up under him less than 100%.
gc
Jeremy Grayson. Son of immigrant. Adoptive father of two. Metadata librarian. Freelance point-to-point / horse racing writer, analyst and commentator wonk. Loves music, buses, cats, the BBC Micro, ale. Advocate of CBT, PACE and therapeutic parenting. Aspergers.
It was through his efforts on Silver Dagger that I first spotted young McAllister and felt at the time that he had a bright future.
Sadly it hasn’t gone to plan and as Jeremy rightly points out his main supporters has been woefully out of form which hasn’t helped.Bang and Blame (six wins) is another horse he formed a good rapport with.
The ride on Lord Samposin was very poor though,and my first reaction was that it was a bit iffy,but to say that he is useless is grossly unfair.
Like many who struggle confidence will be at a low ebb and events at Carlisle won’t have done anything to help said confidence.BTW Jeremy no doubt you’ll be well aware that Mr Opperman missed a possible winner at Ascot yesterday due to injury on Lord Nellerie.
Now Guy Willoughby who tends to unseat from Oliverjohn with the sort of regularity pros were falling off Idle Talk is another who may be better off letting someone else ride his horse.
Whether he is the next Peter Scudamore or he is a very ordinary jockey or not is hardly the point.
The fact is the horse was beaten 3/4 length and but for clobbering the 3rd last and jumping the 2nd last slowly would have won.
The Stewards in their wisdom are doing the guy under the Intent section of the rule.
So I guess he intended to slam the horse into the third last to slow him down and it was his intent to smack the horse 4 or 5 times with the whip to slow him down.
Or maybe it was with intent he got so close to Tony’s mount in the first place so he could stop him in front of the whole world.
He must be the dumbest jockey on the planet to do that.
The friggin newspapers, most of which wouldn’t even be represented at the course, copy what some guy writes and it ends up in every rag you can think of…….so of course it must be right….. it’s in all the newspapers.
I would love you guys to answer this question….had the horse put in a better jumps at the the 2nd and 3rd last would he have won?
McAlister could be done under the law of being uncoordinated if there was one……..I suggest you go back and watch him out in the country…every time the horse makes a mistake he is at sixes and sevens with his reins…..I think he’s a bloody awful jockey and should have Mr in front of his name…. his lack of ability made it look bad but it’s not like he’s taken a pull……granted he could have got closer at the 4th last but he decides to wait until the 3rd last to mke a move which is not unusual at Carlisle which has a stiffer uphill finish than Cheltenham….he asks for a big one and goes straight through the top of it….he had no chance of winning from there………a big gangly horse like him takes time to get going again and there just isn’t that sort of time to get going at Carlisle between the last two……..even at the 2nd last he got too close to it and never landed running…….if he had he probably still would have won.
These are the same Stewards at the same track who did Lenny Lungo for the running of Berwick Law………Lenny was absolutely fuming with them as no way was the horse stopped………and how many races has Berwick Law won since?……..sweet fanny adams…………..These Stewards haven’t got a bloody clue what they are doing………they do the rider but don’t do the trainer………..so what they are saying is that the Jockey risked his career, for what it’s worth, for his buddy right in front of their eyes because he’s a dumb mofo……these twats couldn’t find a non trier if the jockeys told them before the race they were going to stop one.
I remember distinctly saying Berwick Law was a big chasing type and wasn’t a hurdling type and the Stewards were wrong……..those who disagreed got their fingers burned next time out……be my guest guys and help yourself….just beat by a 1/4 shot looks nailed on to win next time out……..Tony Dobbin set no more than a nice jumping pace to give his horse plenty time at his fences ..the second jumped like an old boat….form isn’t worth a hoot IMO
Incidentally anyone who hasn’t seen the race can register free on the racing post website and then go and watch it on chanel 4 racing which is again free……….I have watched the race 5 times now….I wonder if some of you went to the trouble of even watching it before commenting…….
What would be the point, Fists?
If we didn’t come up with the same opinion as you, we’d be blind fookin’ idiots
Your statement : "The friggin newspapers, most of which wouldn’t even be represented at the course, copy what some guy writes and it ends up in every rag you can think of…….so of course it must be right….. it’s in all the newspapers." …………….seems totally invalid when these writers will have been able , like you, to watch the race 5 or 500 times.
A touch of moderation in your posts wouldn’t go amiss, Fists.
Colin
Once I heard Dobbin had decided during the Aintree meeting to hang up his boots at Carlisle on Thursday I knew a certain winner lay in wait, especially when I heard all family and friends were going to watch him ride in a race named after him. I would have staked my mortgage on it which in the current climate shows just how confident I was.
Surely the decent thing to do is ride a winner and then say you have retired. The bookies and punters knew full well what was going to happen, and the race descended into farce. The race comment for the runner-up in the Racing Post is as follows;
"chased winner throughout, hit 3 out, shaken up next, edged right and rider dropped reins run-in (I’m sure it said twice in todays’s Post), kept on"
It was quite embarrassing to watch when McAlistar realised his horse was going to catch Dobbin despite his lack of riding out, so then dropped his reins and changed his whip from hand to hand (even though the horse was going straight). If Fist Of Fury couldn’t see this then there is no hope for the sport.
I fully respect Tony Dobbin but this wasn’t a good way to retire.
Lack of riding out? Mate you never watched the race did you? The guy was flat to the boards, riding like a man possessed and fumbled his reigns about 50 yds from the line……..doing so certainly never stopped the horse momentum unless you seen something I didn’t.
Perhaps you should go back and watch MacAlister again and see how many times he had to regather his reins in the race………..at least 5 times he’s let them go to the buckle end and had to rearrange his posture on the horse………by memory the best view of it is at the fifth last”””then watch a true professional……..you won’t have far to go he’s in front……….Tony’s hands hardly change position during the entire race……….this guy is an amateur among professionals and as I said no one uses him as he is known as being below average……..there’s a huge difference between being a liar and a cheat and being less talented than others around you………..The Stewards chose to label McAlister with the former by reporting him despite the objections both he and his trainer put forward……..MB was apparently amazed at the decision and no wonder…………what possible benefit would either Jockey or trainer get from doing what they were accused off?..
This was to say the least a controversial decision and my idea of what will happen is, the Disciplinery board will have to look at the horses previous form as per the advice in rules….they will clearly find the horse has run the best race of his life……..hardly a pointer to say the horse wasn’t out to win …they will also have to look at the betting trends in the race, certainly wasn’t anything untoward there and if they can find no reason then they are left with a jockeys opinion against a stewards and he will most likely be acquitted
[quote="Fist of Fury
this guy is an amateur among professionals and as I said no one uses him as he is known as being below average
No one uses him ?
How has he managed to clock up 600 rides for a multitude of different trainers – he’s ridden six winners for Mick Easterby. Are you telling us that Mick can’t tell the difference betwen a competent jockey and an ‘amateur among professionals’?
AP
This was to say the least a controversial decision …
I agree with most of what you say Fist, in as much I am inclined to believe it was incompetence rather than cheating on McAlister’s part – however, what you don’t seem to realise is that the local stewards, by referring the matter to the BHA, are choosing NOT to make a decision, controversial or otherwise, but saying " hang on, something fishy might have gone on here, we’re not quite sure, let’s allow the paid chaps in London to take a look and decide rather than us make a snap judgement"
and I for one think that’s surpsingly reasoned judgement from a panel of local stewards.
The thing that annoys me WW is they took it that far…..I am pretty sure it will be thrown out and if I were in their position I would have looked at the big piture and said stuff it…..I worked out in 30 seconds that the guy had no axe to grind by losing but even the commentators started talking about how both used to ride for Lenny Lungo. Typical media grab anything they can, use the art of talking without actually saying anything and get everyone going…..They could have said what a crap ride he gave the second and left it like that but no…..they had to point out these two guys knew each other and were insinuating McAlister had thrown the towel in and let Tony win……..the more stories they have like that, the more the public are likely to become interested………..that’s there job and they are good at it, even if many people hate them for doing it
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