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Rob North
Precisely. You can apply the words to whichever jockey you choose. It might be a particular jockey at this point in time, it could be another jockey at some future date. The purpose of the thread was, as very capably responded to by Ian, to allow a discussion about horse sensitivities and career paths of jockeys.
Your one-liners, whilst appreciated, add little to the discussion.Please, try not to misunderstand me. I purposefully chose not to include my comment under a previous thread solely because I did not want to personalise the issue and jump on the ‘critical bandwagon’. I wrote in terms of the jockey’s mental well-being and in the hope that someone who actually works with racehorses might be able to shed some light on the sensitivity of horses in relation to the person in the saddle. My limited experience leads me to believe that horses can and do respond to ‘vibes’ and having watched the two races mentioned above plus others, subjective though it might be, I do sense a discomfort between horse and rider. As far as the jockey is concerned. Even T.V. commentators are increasingly focussing on the jockey’s performance, more so than usual, so he must feel under even greater pressure to perform and if that becomes intolerable then for his own welfare perhaps a change of scenery and a fresh start might be the solution. Living in someone else’s shadow does not always bring out the best in a rider. I am not talking about physical horsemanship here, his ability is indisputable. I am thinking more in terms of where he finds himself psychologically at present. Some people might turn to the bottle/drugs in such circumstances whilst for others the answer might be a fresh challenge in a more supportive environment.
Anyway, thanks for your earlier comments. Points noted.If the above suggestion doesn’t work, I’m sure you’ll find a similar problem with solutions on another forum e.g. go to AOL homepage – message boards(chat and community) – technical board – media problems. Alternative forum – PCONLINE or Microsofts own forums. Cheers, hope you resolve problem soon.
Well, well, well. Connections of Liberty Beau must have got wind of my tip for their horse and the potential size of my punt. Scared them off, no doubt.
At least it’s good to tip one that doesn’t lose, albeit a non-runner. I’d probably save a few bob if I just stuck to backing non-runners.Max: Not sure the visor helped with Blackwater. Probably always going to be difficult given his poor start and subsequent position. One to swerve next time, perhaps? As for Moon Max. Belied his starting price of 40/1 and ran quite well, looking in with a shout rounding the bend. One to keep an eye on.
Now for the second of my horses that I’ve been waiting to reappear. It’s called Liberty Beau and runs in the 1.15 p.m. at Lingfield tomorrow. My notes on it first run read – Started slowly, finished like a train. It’s my NAP of the month. Good ATR replay of its last race.
Warning: Backing Ken’s tips can seriously damage your wealth.Well, so much for my tipping prowess – I’m just glad I managed to avoid too much egg on face by expressing doubts about Interactive. Seems that Hayley wasn’t too far away from the places on Gwilym but all the same I’ll go to the back of the class and put my dunces hat on.
There’s a post-script to this story though. I called into the bookies this evening just to see what the early price on Interactive was but decided against having a bet. Was about to walk out when I saw the Belle Vue 5.47 dog race was about to go off; had a quick look at the form and decided to throw a fiver on 6-5 forecast. Romped in and paid £20.42 X 5 =£102. Went to the counter to collect, only to discover that I’d mistakenly written the time and meeting as 5.48 Trapton due to the two screens being together. Manager unable to pay out. Oh well, it’s just another bad day at the office.
Bye for nowHold all bets. Sorry, misread the distance. Running over six furlongs as per last race. Therefore unless he’s up with the leaders from mid-way I think the post will come too soon, again. Alternative, might be an each way saver bet on Hayley’s mount at a decent price.
With all the hype surrounding MM we all know what the Gods have deigned to happen. Card abandoned due to frost, snow or waterlogging. Failing that, a first fence fall will be the ultimate irony.
Is it a wind-up you ask, Rockytony? Is that an intentional play on words, I ask myself, Rockytony?
Seriously though, the only statistic that I believe to be true is that, over the course of a year, I back more losers than winners regardless of which way the wind is blowing.
However, just on experience I seem to be aware of more odds-on shots going down on Mondays; but before I publish this notion I should really do my homework and study past results, perhaps.
Cheers, may your every day be calm and sunny.I can see a similar analogy here to that of Roy Keane, both he and Sam having too many falls and losing confidence. Perhaps, racing should adopt a similar tactic to Rafa Benitez i.e. when Sam is approaching a crucial part of the race there should be another jockey waiting in the wings of the fence ready for the substitution.
(Sorry, very much tongue in cheek) Time to move on, I think.Earlier than planned, here’s the first of the two running this week:-
INTERACTIVE – Kempton 8.50 – Wednesday 3rd December
Was finishing like a train over a furlong less last time and came round the bend at Lingfield some six horses wide. Unfortunately, he doesn’t seem to run quite so well at Kempton but he’s certainly got a chance of reversing form with Forest Dane who seemed to be running out of steam having been in a more favourable position. My evening paper shows Forest as 4/1 favourite with Interactive a miserly 7/1. The ATR race replay might help you form your own opinion.
CheersAs his employer, P.N. has a duty of care to Sam Thomas. That should extend to his mental well-being. If Sam is suffering from a crisis of confidence then perhaps the answer would be for P.N. to enter lots of his horses into easily winnable races and give Sam the opportunity to churn out a few winners. If, on the other hand, he continues to experience falls then sack him and employ that Ryan Mania guy.
Can anyone answer this please? When trainers consider the opposition in a race, apart from the opposing horses do they analyze the strengths and weaknesses of individual jockeys. For example, if Sir Alex Ferguson was a trainer with a horse in the same race as Mastermind, knowing Sam Thomas’s current situation, I could well imagine him instructing his rider to put Sam under pressure at every jump. Is that allowed within the Rules of Racing or classed as ungentlemanly conduct?
It’s not as though he falls as often as Rooney is it? I dare any non-rider to sit on a horse approaching a fence at thirty miles an hour and come through unscathed, and still prepared to knock Sam at a time when he’s on the deck. We should just be pleased that despite his falls both he and his mounts are suffering no worse injuries than bruised pride.I appreciate it was classed as a fall this afternoon but from what I saw he had jumped the fence well but the horse’s rear end started to slide and the momentum of trying to right himself and forward propulsion resulted in two opposite forces leaving his whole chassis out of keel.
ATR mentioned Barry’s absence due to the fact that he now has his ‘weekend off’ on Mondays and Tuesdays in order to spend quality time with family.
Not blowing my own trumpet, but on the Lays and Plays thread I did warn against backing odds-on shots on Mondays. Including Alfasoun (fell). I hope I saved someone a few bob. Statistically, more odds-on losers occur on Mondays when the wind is blowing from an Easterly direction. There’s an old Chinese saying, ‘The horse that gallops into the breeze will often be the first to sneeze.’