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Of course presenting and punditry of racing on television is full of them but stall handlers have a fair number as well as ex stable lads in their ranks.
I notice the French have one or two bigger lads amongst their ranks of stall handlers for that bit of extra strength but ours all appear on the small side.Stipendiary stewarding and starting is full of ex-jockeys, why? Are they always the best people to do it or does no one else want to?
Jockeys have never come across to me as being particularly knowledgeable regards stewarding or interference during a race.
As for starting, NH starts have left something to desire for many years and who is responsible for that? jockeys? or starters (ex jockeys)?
Even the chief inspector of courses is an ex jockey, why? What are his qualifications for such a job, his knowledge of the watering issue was severley lacking earlier in the season when tackled about it.So, does anyone know why so many ex jockeys are employed in key positions in racing? Is it just a case of them being the best people for the jobs?
Good question. I was watching ATR last week when they had three ex-jockys Luke Harvey, Richard Dunwoody and Jason Weaver discussing jockeys. Rivetting stuff.
I’d also like to know how jockeys becomes betting experts soon after retiring from the saddle yet are not supposed to bet.
How are racing journalists appointed? You never see the posts advertised do you? There’s a reason for that. All posts are appointed by The Racing Mafia, by whichever sub-mob of the mafia holds the chair at the particular time in a process similar to the award of peerages for the House of Lords.
Two mobs have dominated the mafia in recent times, taking turns to chair it – the Sleepy Hollow Crew and the Weighing Room Boys. They can be seen as something akin to Conservatives and Labour in the Lords analogy. Frightened that an open press will find them out, both mobs have flooded the media with their alumni, stiffling any discussion on dodgy races or alternative methods of race analysis to those handed down on tablets of stone to the Sleepy Hollow crew’s founders two millenia ago.
A third mob, known as the Kenyon Confronted, although small in number have often held the balance of power in recent years and have used this influence to nominate streams of unexacting nonentities that meet with their approval.
There are other minor mobs, akin to independents in the Lords analogy, who occasionally get the odd nomination. One such was The Essex Boys, whose most recent nominee has been limited to a couple of paras at the side of the page every seventh day, until their Mafia dues (which have fallen behind recently) are made good in full.
Nobody gets to be a racing journalist without being nominated and any interlopers that are discovered are thrown off the course even faster than certain Weighing Room Boys would be if the course in question was Happy Valley. It is rumoured that this closed shop is policed via barcodes invisibly tatooed on nominees necks: no barcode and you get escorted off the course. The two most recent journalists to fall foul of this were Andy Davies and Paul Kenyon.
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So, does anyone know why so many ex jockeys are employed in key positions in racing? Is it just a case of them being the best people for the jobs?…I would have thought JETS might have something to do with it for some, although in the case of Mick Fitzgerald, who seems to be sought after by a pack of vultures eager to get half a leg – perhaps not.
Good question. I was watching ATR last week when they had three ex-jockys Luke Harvey, Richard Dunwoody and Jason Weaver discussing jockeys. Rivetting stuff.
I’d also like to know how jockeys becomes betting experts soon after retiring from the saddle yet are not supposed to bet.
Did you enter all those competitions they have on "Get In"? ie. guess the finish time of the 12f handicap at Dundalk etc
To quote Mick Fitzgerald at Uttoxeter "that’s my kind of price" before handing back to Luke Harvey in the studio, who gave us the SP…………… 4/6.
Personally wouldn’t listen to the vast majority of ex-jockeys when it comes to punting – Francome, Luke Harvey, Dunwoody, Fitzgerald are there (i hope) mainly for opinions on the horses. The other pundits are there for the betting side of things, John Francome is particularly irritating when talking about betting – every other horse is "a big price" on a Saturday afternoon.
Nice try, Glenn. Timeform has regularly advertised in recent years and The Sportsman was so desperate for staff (any staff, including desperate staff) that it advertised too. Even you could have got a job if you wanted it.
On the subject of ex-jockeys getting jobs in racing, I remember a prominent member of the Press Association declaring "we have ex-jockeys as racereaders!" as if that was a major selling point.
That’s not how I remember it Pru. I seem to recall my style being considered unsuitable.
Are you talking about problems getting enough fully fledged journalists or are you talking up the the advertising for man in the sh*t/spotlight writers as a more general open door policy?
I don’t remember much about The Sportsman but one thing I do remember, and the reason I didn’t patronise the paper, was them headlining a writer from the Weighing Room Crew who was taking a break from riding. The reason he was taking a break? The small matter of being charged with defrauding what was essentially The Sportsman’s target market! The case against him eventually collapsed, but even so…….
As for the originl poster wondering what qualifications Kevin Darley has on turf management. I would hazard a guess that they would be the same as his qualifications on health and safety. That is, he has read and digested The Modernisation of British Racing, authored by his former retainer, and therefore realises that bookmaker profits are correlated with watered ground and 15 runner fields. He was therefore the perfect candidate to decide Great Leighs safety limits and when a course needs to be freshened up. He is always sure to give the right answer, whereas those with more formal qualifications in these fields may come up with the wrong answer are thus totally unsuited to these posts.
The Sportsman had some superb writers… Mr. Rowlands,Smithy,Jeremy and not forgetting DJ Sunset
Tor,
I don’t recall ever hearing your views on The Sportsman. Do you hold any on the subject?
- Total Posts 17716
Of course presenting and punditry of racing on television is full of them but stall handlers have a fair number as well as ex stable lads in their ranks.
I notice the French have one or two bigger lads amongst their ranks of stall handlers for that bit of extra strength but ours all appear on the small side.Stipendiary stewarding and starting is full of ex-jockeys, why? Are they always the best people to do it or does no one else want to?
Jockeys have never come across to me as being particularly knowledgeable regards stewarding or interference during a race.
As for starting, NH starts have left something to desire for many years and who is responsible for that? jockeys? or starters (ex jockeys)?
Even the chief inspector of courses is an ex jockey, why? What are his qualifications for such a job, his knowledge of the watering issue was severley lacking earlier in the season when tackled about it.So, does anyone know why so many ex jockeys are employed in key positions in racing? Is it just a case of them being the best people for the jobs?
Who knows what qualifications Jockey’s have but I doubt if many attended university. Of course some people with degrees are so dumb when it comes down to being streetwise that they would be a liability to racing.
A jockey if he’s half smart pretty much knows how every aspect of the game works apart from how to deploy water pistols round a racecourse it would seem.
Personally I would never employ a steward who hadn’t at least ridden in a point to point and had some knowledge of what really goes on. Some jockeys could talk themselves out of anything and very few respect anyone, especially someone who has never race ridden, trying to tell them A is B when they know it is not.
On the media side listening to John Francome, Steve Smith Eccles, Luke Harvey and Fitzy is entertaining. Fitzy was regarded as a good judge when he was riding but personality wise Francome is head and shoulders above him and the rest but makes up half of what he tells you and the other have is BS. These guys are there because they are celebrities and judging from the saddle, combined with what you hear in the weighing room against reading and analysing a form book are 2 totally different things.
Now when Terry Norman and Alex Steedman get together there is a team. Alex Steedman asks the right questions and Terry Norman more often than not gives a well informed truthful answer. Alex Steedman himself is one of the best presenters I have come across in 40 years and a fair judge himself.
Comparing these guys to the ex-jockey brigade is like comparing De’Niro and Pacino to the Chipmonks.
Ex-jockeys can and do play some important roles in racing but as far as giving sound advise is concerned they suck.
It seems a natural and sensible process for jockeys to stay in the industry after they give up riding. If they have the knowledge and sense to move on to a particular position in horse racing. Not jobs for the boys, theyare the best for the particular job by all means give it to them.
like everything else, experience means so much.
Most of them do a decent enough job.
The only one who bored the cajones off me was Walter Swinburn Jnr during his stint with CH4.
He was forever toeing the party/Stoute line.
Gambling Only Pays When You're Winning
Tor,
I don’t recall ever hearing your views on The Sportsman. Do you hold any on the subject?
Glenn,
I’ve no great knowledge of the paper,though did read the forum.Bought The Sportsman a couple of times to check out the racing section as most of my punting was on the gee gees.
From what I remember it was poorly set out and contained some mistakes.I quickly returned to the RP.Is there a big enough market for two trade papers?
It did have some knowledgeable writers,like those I mentioned above(maybe not including Ed Murray),but maybe it was trying to cover too many sports.The RP is more racing focused and that suited my needs.
Tor.
Thinking of (Big) Ed Murray….I had another look at this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q57LFBG3t68
Some of the comments are hilarious
The Sportsman had some superb writers… Mr. Rowlands,Smithy,Jeremy and not forgetting DJ Sunset
DJ Sunset?! THere is a blast from the past from another forum!!
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