Jockey News

jinnyj said:
Just watched Paddy Brennan winning the first at Cheltenham....absolutely awful to see how much he was banging down on the horses kidneys.....is it me or are they all starting to do it now? How is it good for the horse?
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He's been like that for a while, he's not the only one though. Aiden Coleman another, STD a lifetime of it.
 
jinnyj said:
Just watched Paddy Brennan winning the first at Cheltenham....absolutely awful to see how much he was banging down on the horse's kidneys.....is it me or are they all starting to do it now? How is it good for the horse?
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G-G said:
He's been like that for a while, he's not the only one though. Aiden Coleman is another, STD a lifetime of it.
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They all ride like that. The camera running adjacent to them emphasized it more than what we usually see from standard footage..
 
I did mention it to Rodi Greene a while ago as he’s a jockey coach...he hadn’t actually considered that it might be detrimental to the horse but when we discussed it, he did end up agreeing (or maybe that’s because he didn’t have a choice.....:whistle:)
 
I thought good jockeyship was keeping a horse perfectly balanced whilst urging it to greater efforts at the same time. A difficult trick to pull off and I find it difficult to see how the bumping up and down style helps.
 
barjon said:
I thought good jockeyship was keeping a horse perfectly balanced whilst urging it to greater efforts at the same time. A difficult trick to pull off and I find it difficult to see how the bumping up and down style helps.
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Absolutely! Keeping a horse balanced is paramount. You are trying to keep the horse in a straight line....for one thing, tendon injuries are invariably caused by sudden movements left, right or pulling up sharply and I used to ask all my jockeys to make sure they pulled their horses up in a straight line. The bumping and grinding often increasingly accompanied by wild flapping (Harry Skelton) is just horrible.

Although I never race rode, I used to love riding work. As soon as you started to quicken up, just crouching down in behind the horses neck, squeezing and cajoling. Changing your hands, shortening the reins, pushing and pushing and then maybe only a little tap down the shoulder. I treated it like an art form and was quite proud of my ability to do it well. I loved educating young flat horses. Nothing better than when the penny suddenly drops for a young horse and he learns that he has gears.

Yes Adam is one of the worst offenders and had he still been riding for me, I would have queried it!
 
If you look at all the best jockeys for example the best ever imo Ruby Walsh post in a finish because that is the correct way to drive a horse forward and get the best out of your mount.
Doubt that there's plenty examples on youtube to watch.

However there's not a crazier man or a more determined man riding today than Paddy Brennan and when he's involed in a finish it shows.

So much so you rightfully ask the question that Jinny is asking does it harm the horse.

Well he's ridden for people like Philip Hobbs Paul Nichols Nigel TW and was the regular rider on Cue Card at his best for Colin Tizzard. Now he's with Fergal O'Brian and heading for his best season ever.

No disrespect meant to anyone but these things are best left to the professionals. If Paddy was a danger to horses would he be where he is today?

That said because he stone mad and his ridning style can be of putting and is not everyones cup of tea maybe he'd ride even more winners in a season
 
I missed the early racing on Saturday but saw the replay of the closing stages of that race and my immediate thought was who the fvck is that clown in the saddle?

Now, I usually see it as a positive with PB booked but I've never seen/noticed him apparently bumping his horse so far behind the saddle. It actually made me wonder what's the point of having a saddle at all.

I would have no idea about whether it might hurt the horse but it was an unedifying sight.
 
reet hard said:
With respect, you know more about riding than I ever will, but Charlie Appleby gave Adam Kirby the ride on Adayar?
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He rode for me! I like him a lot. But if I was still training then I would question him about it. I follow a vet on Facebook (formerly with the Animal Health Trust) who runs seminars online so will ask him. He’s currently doing one on saddles and whether a rigid saddle is better than a treeless one for the horses back because of consistent weight distribution. He was involved with lots of yards back when I first lived in Newmarket and is a very interesting guy.
 
Let's not forget why NH flat races are called bumpers; it's visually unappealing for sure.

I do think that a fair number of trainers would tell their jockeys to stop riding that way if they believed it was hindering the horse's longevity; but those instructions may be ignored for bigger races and tacitly wouldn't apply for true blue riband events like the Gold Cup.
 
ep1987 said:
Let's not forget why NH flat races are called bumpers; it's visually unappealing for sure.

I do think that a fair number of trainers would tell their jockeys to stop riding that way if they believed it was hindering the horse's longevity; but those instructions may be ignored for bigger races and tacitly wouldn't apply for true blue riband events like the Gold Cup.
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Trouble is that many trainers don’t necessarily think like that. And several have a pretty high attrition rate in any case as it’s a win at all costs. And don’t forget how many happily stuck their horses on Lasix to race in the US “on level terms” despite the fact that their horses had not been diagnosed as bleeders and I know of several who regularly trained on it over here. Horse welfare isn’t always a priority. It wasn’t so long ago that Howard Johnson thought it acceptable to de-nerve his horses......:mad:
 
jinnyj said:
Trouble is that many trainers don’t necessarily think like that. And several have a pretty high attrition rate in any case as it’s a win at all costs. And don’t forget how many happily stuck their horses on Lasix to race in the US “on level terms” despite the fact that their horses had not been diagnosed as bleeders and I know of several who regularly trained on it over here. Horse welfare isn’t always a priority. It wasn’t so long ago that Howard Johnson thought it acceptable to de-nerve his horses......:mad:
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True, but I think NH trainers have realised that the longer they keep their horses racing the longer the training fees keep rolling in without needing to find new owners or have their existing ones spend more on sales fees. So if they aren't dissuading their jockey's from bumping finishes then they don't believe that it's doing any long term harm. That's not to say that they're right of course but I think the win at all costs mentality only applies to bigger pots.
 
I do recall a debate once about 2-year-old horses ridden from the start by Pat Eddery and Willie Carson. The tender approach and the win at all costs. the result was palpable!
 
I think I did post a while ago about him but great day/week/season so far for Caollin Quinn. A great lad absolutely flying. Great ride today at Haydock to get up and win.
 
Compellimg interview with John Francome in today's RP - doesn't appear to have changed at all, from the witty and [nformative character that used to grace ITV racing. :)
 
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