Murtagh Replaces Fallon

Murtagh has occasionally ridden a race that might seem to have been over confident or ill judged but whcih top jockey hasn't ?- Ouija Board comes to mind in the Arc .

Lacking confidence in the big races on short priced favourites - never . I can't ever remember that of him .

He seems to thrive on the confidence trainers have in him - as far as I see it accordingly AOB & Murtagh are an ideal combination.
 
Ouija Board comes to mind in the Arc .
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If he'd had her just a length or two more prominent and started to wind her up maybe 50 yards sooner...

(yeah, I was on).

Ironically, he raced Soldier of Fortune too prominently in last year's race.

(yeah, I was on him too. Did I ever tell you how much I love coupling?)
 
It was not his best day that day on Ouija

But he has landed one of the best five jobs a jockey can take in Europe and he looks the right man for the job, with Fallon out and Dettori,McEvoy and Ryan Moore in other stables, there were not many more alternatives.
 
Christophe Lemaire was a jockey who impressed me last season, up their with Pasquier and Soumillon on the other side of the channel.

No idea whether he was ever in the frame though and Murtagh looks the perfect man for the job anyway.
 
Originally posted by betsmate@Feb 1 2008, 12:41 PM
Christophe Lemaire was a jockey who impressed me last season, up their with Pasquier and Soumillon on the other side of the channel.
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Does this mean Soumi impressed you last year?



Nina Carberry is a better jockey than any of those 3.
 
Headstrong I was born in Ireland (live in England) so I am an Irish citizen, and yet broadly share you views.

My uncle was over a couple of years ago and told me Murtagh is prone to depression. I am not sure whether there is any truth in this or not. But if you add this to the track record of drink problems, then I would remain doubtful of his capacity to handle the spotlight.

Also, whilst he got the job back with Oxx after his first bout of "issues" why did he lose the job to Kinane even after the highs of Sinndar? Obviously some doubts remained which even his most loyal patron (Oxx) couldn't quite come to terms with.

By the way, don't get me wrong. If the man has continuing demons with drink and depression I really pity him, and hope he can get proper help. Moreover, if such problems continue to lurk in his psyche, would he be well advised to turn down such a high pressure role lest it crack him up completely?
 
useful I think this kind of thing was at the root of his problems when he was in Englasnd which clearly had an effect on his stint as 1st jockey to Fanshawe, which obviously I followed closely as we had a few good Elite horses there inc Soviet Song [on whom he had at least two abysmal rides, one of which he got away with].

But his personal circumstances are now quite different, and I don;t think he was at all happy out of Ireland, and maybe his wife wasn't either.

Similarly I can't see ANY of the French jocks wanting to go over to Ireland, whatever the job. The French don't 'travel' well on the whole, and the culture, food, etc etc are totally different, never mind the language. We don't know if any of them were asked - do we? There seems to be an assumption is some quarters that 'anyone' would jump at this job - I don't think so :rolleyes:
 
How much pressure do you think was on him when he was winning the King George on Dylan Thomas at 5/4 for the same people he'll be riding for this season? Or Peeping Fawn at 2/1 in the Nassau and 4/9 in the Yorkshire Oaks? He won all three with the minimum of fuss, just as he should have done.

Also, whilst he got the job back with Oxx after his first bout of "issues" why did he lose the job to Kinane even after the highs of Sinndar? Obviously some doubts remained which even his most loyal patron (Oxx) couldn't quite come to terms with.
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He sustained a back injury at Royal Ascot in 2003 which left him unable to exercise enough to keep his weight down sufficiently and consistently to execute his commitments to Oxx over the course of the rest of the season, at the end of which Kinane became available after being released by Ballydoyle. Oxx couldn't be sure that Murtagh would be 100% for the next season, and that Kinane wasn't going to be without a retainer for long, and made the decision.

As for French jockeys, Soumillon would take the job in a heartbeat and was clearly angling for it at times last year.
 
Whilst I find it bizzare to think that a jockey coming around Tattenham corner with a full horse under him just has to remind himself of his SP to calm his nerves
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Perhaps not in Fallons case.....
 
Considering the extreme loyalty shown by Coolmore in Fallon during his prolonged periods on the sidelines, do you not agree that Oxx could have shown more loyalty in Murtagh, especially considering how far back their realtionship went? Did it not happen a bit quickly, and was Oxx simply looking for a root out? Can you be completely sure that there were not other issues bubbling under which were not made public?

I would take you back to my earlier statements about about Murtagh's successes with Coolmore thus far - they did come as retained, No 1 jockey. He was a substitute for Fallon. Nobody knew Fallon would ultimately get the boot, especially not Murtagh.

I don't think there is much more to be gained in pointing to previous victories in Murtagh's career. Lets all meet back here In Novemebr and appraise his first season with Coolmore.

One thing is for sure, he won't be carrying ANY of my money in any race!
 
Originally posted by useful@Feb 1 2008, 03:01 PM
One thing is for sure, he won't be carrying ANY of my money in any race!
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Just a hunch, but I think you might miss out on one or two winners.
 
I will miss out on winners, for sure, but I wont lose either if, as I suspect, the pressure starts to get to him and the frequency of mistakes at crucial stages in races increases!
 
Considering the extreme loyalty shown by Coolmore in Fallon during his prolonged periods on the sidelines, do you not agree that Oxx could have shown more loyalty in Murtagh, especially considering how far back their realtionship went?
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I would imagine Oxx's loyalties start with his owners, which number amongst them the Aga Khan and Sheikh Mohammed. He's a very pragmatic man.

Did it not happen a bit quickly, and was Oxx simply looking for a root out? Can you be completely sure that there were not other issues bubbling under which were not made public?
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I can't, but as you have no need for evidence before believing something I'm sure you'll be happy to think that there was.

I would take you back to my earlier statements about about Murtagh's successes with Coolmore thus far - they did come as retained, No 1 jockey. He was a substitute for Fallon. Nobody knew Fallon would ultimately get the boot, especially not Murtagh.
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You're suggesting he had nothing to lose, but he must have known that there was a chance of Fallon not coming back and that he had a golden opportunity to impress.

I don't think there is much more to be gained in pointing to previous victories in Murtagh's career.
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Why, because they make your opinion of him as mentally weak seem baseless?
 
Originally posted by Headstrong@Feb 1 2008, 12:55 AM
I don't think anyone has suggested that! - his record speaks for itself

It's the *sustained* pressure of a high profile job where a multi-billion operation is dependent on YOU getting it right, and where your every move and ride is going to be under a very insistent microscope, which worries a few of us [none of us Irish I note LOL]. He's always been a bit too error prone in my book, and yes that is my pocket talking! - I loved him before I started punting :rolleyes: now I'm less enamoured. About 3/4 seasons back he was constantly getting boxed in, in important races, both here in the UK and in Ireland. Did my head in!
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I was more referring to the notion put forth earlier in the thread that none of his Derby successes proves he can handle the big occassion, as the only jockeys who feel any pressure are those riding the hot favourite. Thank god for Murtagh, the weight of Motivator's favouritism was lifted by the fact that he was not retained by Michael Bell. :laughing:

Of course, the Ballydoyle job brings an immense amount of pressure (probably the most pressure in Europe in fact), but my personal opinion is that Murtagh will prove well up to handling it.
 
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