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“I believe that the connections of the horse receive all the prize money in the event of a walk over. Approx 17 grand in this case.”
I’d be interested to learn the provenance of this belief.
The Racing Post stats page for Pentland Hills gives the gelding’s NH winnings & earnings for 2022/2023 as £8,714.
The current BHA rule on spurs proscribes the use of same.
Unsurprisingly the ruling body fails to mention when they were banned. It could be they gradually fell out of use when the riders’ stirrups rose so high that spurs were superfluous, as per Miss Woodford’s comments above, and they were banned as a kind of afterthought following an incident such as that described by Salut A Toi.
British racing owes much to the American jockeys who came over here circa 1900 and showed us how to most effectively ride a racehorse. The strike rates of such as Sloan, Maher, Martin, and the Reiff brothers to mention but a few, was astonishing in comparison with that of home-based jockeys in that era.
The last well-known jockey to ride long in my limited knowledge of race-riding was Paddy Broderick of Night Nurse fame. I’m probably wrong, though.
This post is dedicated to the countless TRF members who have been on tenterhooks for the past 7 years, hoping against hope that one day there would be a breakthrough in the subject of rattles in racing.
In the case of Ballyscanlon the rattle was described variously as, ‘an old condensed milk tin filled with stones and tied on to a stick’ and ‘an old metal polish tin filled with small stones’ attached to the end of the whip.
Speed On’s persuader consisted of, ‘a small tin containing a marble’, which is a bit of a comedown in rattle technology to my untutored eye. It’s surely beyond dispute that the audio quality achieved via the marble/small tin ensemble would be significantly diminished in comparison with that of Ballyscanlon’s stones/milk tin combination.
Here’s a picture of H.Hedges with Ballyscanlon and a rattle.
https://www.imago-images.com/sp/0008521464
Facts courtesy of ‘Ashforth’s Curiosities of Horse Racing’.
David,
Ashforth has good form in this sphere so my interest is duly piqued.
I’m guessing the trainer was Hilal Ibrahim.
You might want to change the first date in the footnote to 10th September.
It’s striking that Laytown restructured its race programme about 25 years ago following some carnage there in 1994. One of the safety measures taken limited race distances to 7f, which removed the requirement for the field to negotiate a bend.
RIP Jack de Bromhead.
Commercial Flyer & Sound Of Iona perhaps win the thread but, in a less rarified sphere of competition, Roy Cambidge trained the 10-y-o Threadbare to win three times in three consecutive racing days in 1973, the kicker being these races were in different disciplines of the sport. All races were selling handicaps:
4 August 1973 – Hurdle at Newton Abbot.
6 August 1973 – Chase at Newton Abbot.
7 August 1973 – Flat race at Wolverhampton.I’m sure Threadbare would have raced on 5 August if it hadn’t been a Sunday.
“All reasons a top jumper is less likely to make into a top flat horse and why it is so rarely tried that way around. Has it ever been tried?”
Given the use of ‘ever’ I hope this example is a good fit.
Brown Jack won 7 from 10 hurdle races in 1927/1928 including the Champion Hurdle. Competing exclusively on the Flat from thereon in, the horse won an Ascot Stakes, six Queen Alexandra Stakes, a Goodwood Cup, a Doncaster Cup, a Chester Cup, and an Ebor Handicap.
Curiosity drove me to look at a few books that give details of handicap weights over the years. I had a couple of gaps that I asked the RP to fill in. There’s a difference of opinion concerning the first entry. My information shows a minimum bottom weight of 4st was implemented in 1850 whereas the RP records no minimum weight was applicable until 1860 at 5st 7lb. I’m bowing to the RP on this.
1860 5st 7lb
1889 6st 0lb
1931 6st 7lb
1961 7st 0lb
1983 7st 7lb
1995 7st 10lb
2002 7st 12lb
2013 8st 0lb
2022 8st 2lbHope this helps someone.
Gladiateur,
“But then you have to ask if Roberto has put up one of, if not the, greatest one-off performances of all time.”
Certainly one of.
With no little assistance from an accomplished jockey giving Roberto a great ride. Baeza claims he had plenty of horse left at the finish but that might be him just telling the tale.
As far as I can recall Braulio flew in from the US on Sunday and didn’t get on the horse until Tuesday morning. He beat a 144 rated horse by 3 lengths in a course record time. He then flew home and rode at Saratoga the following day. If memory serves, it was Baeza’s only ride in Europe, so his CV on this continent can reasonably be described as impeccable.
Bill Williamson was allegedly offered the ride on Roberto but declined, citing a commitment to ride in Belgium the same day. I’m wondering if Williamson was suffering from a fit of pique when he turned down that opportunity.
Fair point made by LD73.
Ravel, are you going by registered race names where applicable?
Darn it.
I always thought the race was named after Geno Washington, vocalist with the Ram Jam Band.
A cursory search for ‘deference’ produces synonyms including respect, regard, courtesy, and politeness.
I’m not sure a 17 year old boy should be referring to previous employers by their surnames alone. Especially on TV. Put a ‘Mr’ in front or use a first name or use a first name + surname.
I guess it’s a game of opinions.
Matt Chapman interviewed Taylor Fisher (17) following the jockey’s win on Talamanca at Windsor yesterday, eliciting this response to an enquiry about his short history:
“I moved to Hannon’s from Balding’s after school straightaway…I got my license at Hannon’s then I moved to Archie Watson…”
Call me old-fashioned but I believe a little more deference wouldn’t have gone amiss.
