[Himself]

Jamie Spencer is an infuriating jockey – brilliant one minute, incredibly erratic and careless the next.

That erratic and careless side was perfectly illustrated (yet again) in this evening’s 8.20 race at Wolverhampton. His ride on 11/8 favourite, History Boy, was not very good, to put it mildly.

Gambling Only Pays When You're Winning

[Himself]

I’m a bit of a Lydia Hislop fan myself.

Gambling Only Pays When You're Winning

[Himself]

Let’s not forget that Sir Mark Prescott trained Alborada to win back – to – back Champion Stakes – a group 1 race.

Gambling Only Pays When You're Winning

[Himself]

I know it’s a bit obvious and not at all original, but it has to be Nina Carberry for me.

Gambling Only Pays When You're Winning

[Himself]

Most of us (whether we admit it or not) tend to criticise jockeys because the supposed good thing they have just ridden, has lost – and thus cost us many £££s.

That said, I tread very carefully these days before splashing out the readies on short priced favourites ridden by messrs Dettori and Spencer.

Gambling Only Pays When You're Winning

[Himself]

Genius is a word that is too often bandied about these to days when referring to people involved in sport. When I think of genius in horse racing terms, I think more along the lines of Vincent O’Brien.

Sir Mark Prescott seems a very shrewd trainer/man. He has plotted some nice handicap wins during his career. Although he has in the past been labelled a stern and hard task master, he has always struck me as having a good sense of humour – judging by some of his occasional tv appearances and the funny anecdotes he has related to Alastair Down.

Gambling Only Pays When You're Winning

[Himself]

I’d choose an 8-runner Group race ahead of a 30-runner 5f Hcp any day

Me too.

Years ago, I read an interview with the late Phil Bull, who when asked for a piece of advice for the small punter who wished to back winners on a more consistent basis, said that it paid dividends to stick to non-handicaps, and preferably in races with eight runners or less.

I never bet in sprint handicaps. It’s a hard and fast rule of mine. Besides, it’s too much like hard work to decipher and analyse all the various form lines. Cavalry charges are not for me. Though, I take my hat off to the people who find winners in these races – whether through their own endeavours or by sheer good luck.

Gambling Only Pays When You're Winning

[Himself]

I, along with thousands of others, backed Zafonic that day. He was impressive – but I don’t agree with Big Mac that NO horse, past or present, could have beaten him that day. I believe Brigadier Gerard would certainly have beaten him, as would El Gran Senor and let’s not forget Tudor Minstrel, the easiest of all Guineas winners. I know, It’s all about opinions.

Gambling Only Pays When You're Winning

[Himself]

Of course even beating the Brigadier himself wasn’t enough for poor old Roberto for some people!

Roberto was a very good racehorse. People tend to forget that as well defeating the great Brigadier Gerard at York (both horses broke the track record that day) Vincent O’Brien’s colt also defeated subsequent Arc winner Rheingold twice, and he won the Coronation Cup as a four year old.

In saying that, I think that Panamanian jockey Baeza rode the race of his life that day, making all (he simply took Joe Mercer by surprise and took the sting out the great horse): allied to the fact that The Brigadier had a very hard race at Ascot when winning the King George & Queen Elizabeth.

Gambling Only Pays When You're Winning

[Himself]

I’m sure it was our old friend Van Der Wheil who once said that the difference between a mug punter and a professional is, the mug punter will walk into a bookmaker’s shop with a pound, with the hope of winning five – whereas the professional punter will go in with five pounds with the intention of winning one.

Gambling Only Pays When You're Winning

[Himself]

Matt Chapman for one. He is smug to the point of being obnoxious at times.

Robert Cooper. Don’t dislike him but seems to be in a world of his own. He waffles incoherently at times but on the plus side, he has a sardonic sense of humour.

Clare Balding. She’s ok, but she is ( however much she protests to the contrary) very patronising towards Willie Carson (yes, I know he often gets tongue tied), who has forgotten more about racing than she knows. I read a piece awhile back where it said Sir Peter O’Sullevan didn’t like her school marmish style.

Jimmy Lindley > I know he’s no longer on the beeb. A likeable guy but he used to infuriate me with his "another nice filly who has a chance" comments, even though it hadn’t a hope of getting placed, let alone win. Turns out he didn’t like to offend owners and trainers by dissing their horses.

Luke Harvey. In the beginning, I was embarrassed for him. He seemed well out his depth, but over the years he has grown in confidence and I now believe he is quite a good presenter

Gambling Only Pays When You're Winning

[Himself]

Sakhee’s Secret is an improving horse and looked very impressive in his last start. The July Cup will naturally be his toughest test to date, though I do think he is capable of winning it, but I would be more hopeful than confident.

Gambling Only Pays When You're Winning

[Himself]

My own preference is for NH – for most of the reasons already mentioned. I love the Cheltenham Festival – for me, it is simply a mouth-watering prospect. I’m sure it is for all racing fans. More importantly, I tend to win more money, and certainly win more often and more consistently when backing horses over the jumps. Maybe that’s the real reason.

Gambling Only Pays When You're Winning

[Himself]

I will always argue that a horse such as Dancing Brave, Nijinsky, Mill Reef who were top drawer over a mile then made the step up in trip are better horses than the likes of Shergar, Reference Point, Generous, Ribot, even Sea Bird that wouldn’t have had the speed to win a mile Group one as a three year old.

Though, it is only fair to point out that Mill Reef didn’t have the speed to win the only mile group 1 race he contested as a three year old, but was nevertheless an outstanding middle distance performer (undefeated over 10 and 12 furlongs).

You could reasonably argue that because Nijinsky and Dancing Brave won top class group one races over a mile – as well as a few mile and a hallf group 1 races between them – that they were more versatile performers – but it is more than a little bold to suggest that both those great colts (along with Mill Reef) were superior or better animals than outstanding champions like Ribot and Sea Bird ( who like Mill Reef and Shergar after them ) remained undefeated at 10 and 12 furlongs – unlike Nijinsky (10 & 12 f) and Dancing Brave (12f x 2), who were both defeated at those distances.

Gambling Only Pays When You're Winning

[Himself]

Are we all agreed that we must wait for 3 year olds to win decisively in all aged Group 1 company before showering them with such superlatives?

Depends how we define decisively. Shergar, for example, won the King George & Queen Elizabeth Stakes by four lengths; Generous by seven lengths – whereas Nijinsky (a better colt than either, imo) won the same race by a shorter margin, without coming off the bridle, and yet arguably just as , if not, more decisively.

Lammtarra on the other hand, won the King George & Arc by having to battle hard and by a small margins and remained undefeated, albeit in a handful of races during his short career. Was he not a great horse and deserving of superlatives?

Gambling Only Pays When You're Winning

[Himself]

:?:

Could any of you IT wizards explain why I can only read the left half of the posts on this thread?
There is no right/left adjustment, and reducing text size doesn’t help either?

Try clicking on maximise (top right hand corner). Maybe that will help?

Gambling Only Pays When You're Winning

[Himself]

I remember studying Van Der Wheil’s methods about twenty years ago. I think a lot of patience and study was required. Nevertheless, interesting stuff.

Gambling Only Pays When You're Winning

[Author]

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