July Cup

Good stuff about the veering, Shadz - I thought Squeally did well not to lose his balance, to be honest, and the horse was a real monkey. Thank God it didn't wallop one of them enough to face a disqual, which would've been tragic.

I also get annoyed by race callers and presenters, who ought to know better, calling the filly DARK something (is it ENERGY?) names because she's a relentless tail-swirler. She swirls her tail from the parade ring to the finish line - she obviously loves her tail and enjoys flirting it, but she runs just fine. There are one or two horses who react with a tail flirt to being hit behind, but carry on straight as a die and don't get too distracted by the sudden thwack on the bum. There's tail-twirling and then there's tail-lashing - different things, not to be confused. The downward tail lash (a rear protective action) usually precedes a kick or a buck - it shows annoyance and it's best to get out of the way. Likewise if the tail thrashes downwards in a race, the horse is annoyed - maybe one's up his backside and he resents it. Harmless twirling is just that - the horse is amusing itself or showing high spirits.
 
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The July Course is pretty 'busy' inside the final furlong with various distractions on either side when they've been travelling through empty heathland for the majority, I suspect it was just this that contributed to her swerving.
 
First time in a while i didnt back her, but isnt the controversy taking away from what a cracking performance that was? Shes a real star.
 
I tend to agree, Krizon; yes, a flashing tail does often illustrate a horse of dubious temperament but not always, especially when it comes to fillies. One of my fillies is a tail flasher but is as honest as they come, very genuine and simply loves her work. Get a look at the tail here!

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Curiouser and curiouser - Hannon has torn a strip off Mellish and Hislop on his website . Then again if they were his tactics ...
 
I agree entirely that he was not outpaced in the first two furlongs

I think it is a fair point that he got unbalanced coming down the hill but it was the fact he was so far back that meant he couldn't recover and catch the leaders
 
from Richard Hannon's website

The fact is Paco Boy could not go the early pace

correct

thats how most people would read it

if it was a flat track like York he would have been left even further back..its only the uphill at Newmarket that gained him 4th
 
EC1 said:
from Richard Hannon's website

The fact is Paco Boy could not go the early pace

correct

thats how most people would read it

if it was a flat track like York he would have been left even further back..its only the uphill at Newmarket that gained him 4th
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Absolute crap, they should have the decency to put their hands up and admit they got it wrong by having him out the back tracking the favourite.

This is exactly what Hannon said, from his website....

Richard Hannon has torn into Racing UK presenter Lydia Hislop and analyst Steve Mellish for their vicious criticism of Jimmy Fortune's riding of Paco Boy in Friday's July Cup. Paco Boy flew home in fourth place behind Fleeting Spirit, having been last to half-way, and Fortune claimed afterwards that "another half-furlong and we would have won".
However, while Hislop and Mellish were adamant that it was pilot-error, Hannon was quick to jump to the defence of his jockey, who was standing in for the suspended Richard Hughes.
Hannon said:"The Racing UK pair cut Jimmy to pieces, and it was most unfair. It is obvious that neither of them have ever sat on a racehorse in their lives, because I have never heard so much nonsense talked after a race.
"The fact is Paco Boy could not go the early pace and then he became totally unbalanced in the Dip. Once he met the rising ground he took off, and these so-called experts don't seem to understand that plenty of horses fail to handle that run down into the Dip at Newmarket. It was the same with Big Audio in the Superlative Stakes - he lost his race there, too."

It's not the first time he's turned on the media when they've gone against his own view.
 
"It is obvious that neither of them have ever sat on a racehorse in their lives, because I have never heard so much nonsense talked after a race."

.................to paraphrase A.P.McCoy.
 
The "they've never sat on a horse so their opinion is therefore crap" is also the most desperate last resort argument anyone can churn out. If you applied that reasoning to all walks of life, you'd not be allowed to have an opinion on much.
 
has it crossed your mind that you might be wrong Stan?

Fortune has obviously told Hannon he was outpaced..which he looked to my eye and plenty of others....maybe he just was

Maybe we are all wrong

Maybe you backed the horse at the wrong trip?

lots of maybe's really
 
I would read it as being outpaced if he was being scrubbed along early but he wasn't. He was settled at the back. It looked like a tactical error to me and i'm not necessarily blaming the jockey for that.
 
he wasn't fast enough to get near the front though until others tired and he met rising ground

when you aren't fast enough in a race its ..outpaced..you don't need a jockey to scrub it along..you just see how far back it is

the horse has never been that far back in a race..because he has never faced G1 6f sprinters..so horse can't go fast enough..is outpaced.

the training involved to get him to get 8f is not ideal prep for a race of this nature..they stretched the horse out just recently...then send him sprinting..again..only I can see thats an error?..come on its not rocket science

if they had started the season training him for sprints..it might have made sense..instead they "chance" it in a race like this..its not clever..its not adventurous and its not exciting ..to see a horse out of its comfort zone like that..same with Conduit..I notice the jockey got stick for that ride too..whenever a horse is struggling at a trip punters blame the jock..think the blame lies elsewhere really.
 
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My position on the race is irrelevant, for what it's worth I didn't have a penny of my own money on the horse (threw a meaningless £50 free bet at it) and I backed African Rose in the race.

He was settled nicely at the back, if it had been Spencer onboard, there would have been even more uproar. There was no way he was outpaced, the tactics were just wrong and Hannon should have the decency to acknowledge it. They spent so long worrying about the favourite, they forgot about the other dangers in the race.
 
And when those that have sat on an equine, (beyond the capacity of the all weather surface at Skegness) can see certain factors which they point out, get taken to court for defamation!!!If racing is a sport then one or two seriously need to grow a backbone when it comes any criticism.
 
Gamla Stan said:
I think Scenic Blast will probably win but he's incredibly short given what he's achieved in Europe compared to Paco Boy. Not the strongest renewal and Paco Boy is such a straightforward horse, I see no problems with him dropping back in trip and the 5/1 on offer this morning was an incredible price given the opposition, I can only see the favourite troubling him.
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you looked very keen on PB to me


what I do in these situations is make sure in future that I don't fall in the same trap again..its taking a positive from a negative..whereas just blaming someone elase would tend to make me keep doing the same thing.

we all get it wrong Stan..me more than most..then again..I usually follow the minority view....its what we do about that in future that is important imo
 
Gamla Stan said:
The "they've never sat on a horse so their opinion is therefore crap" is also the most desperate last resort argument anyone can churn out. If you applied that reasoning to all walks of life, you'd not be allowed to have an opinion on much.
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Sorry GS, I can't agree there. That's not so much from the 'you obviously know nothing if you haven't ridden racehorses' point of view, but more from the point of view that if you are very familiar with riding racehorses (I specify racehorses as they are so very different from going for a happy hack in the woods) you tend to pick up little things that non-riders just wouldn't notice, or maybe even think about, or take into account as being significant. It's probably worth pointing out that a lot of the so-called experts would agree with me most of the time over this; you'd be surprised to hear how many astute judges or experienced racing journalists/pundits even racing photographers have asked me to explain things for them or even asked my opinion as they say they are not riders and as such there are certain things they don't understand, so could they have my opinion/explanation as an equestrienne. It happens with surprising regularity.

Thanks Toobe, Colin. She's Annie on a good day, and whichever swear word comes to hand first on a bad day. She's erm, interesting to ride, wants to get on with it!
 
Ha ha! A lot of them are actually genuinely interested in seeing things from a rider's point of view and often ask.
 
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