By Lee Sobot
Published on Thursday 1 December 2011 04:45
With anything up to a 10lbs claim, having a decent apprentice on your side who has so far gone unnoticed can be a valuable betting tool.
Unnoticed he hasn’t been but he’s still not exactly front page news and make no mistake – Maurice Linehan is a jockey destined for the top.
You’ll have to forgive me for being a bit hazy on Linehan’s details in this piece but therein lies the beauty –- the Irishman is fresh on the scene and there will still be many in the racing game who have not heard of him, yet alone recognise his talents.
But those who haven’t heard of the youngster very soon will as the young apprentice has shown in the last week that he is one of the best, if not the best young apprentices around.
And as he has been riding in the green and yellow striped silks of JP McManus, it is little wonder that Linehan is being dubbed the “new Tony McCoy”.
Even as someone who follows the racing religiously every day, Linehan was not a name I was familiar with until he got the leg up on O’Callaghan Strand at Wetherby at the end of October.
Polished
The Jonjo O’Neill-trained five-year-old was a well-fancied 2-1 favourite, but the obvious question being asked by most backers was: “who on earth is the jockey?”
It will have been most punters’ first observation of the claimer but while O’Callaghan Stand failed to land the odds, there was nothing wrong with Linehan’s riding technique, indeed the youngster looked polished in the saddle, getting his mount quietly into contention with a softly, softly approach all the way round.
Promising and sure enough just two days later came, by my reckoning, Linehan’s first British winner on Tarvini at Huntingdon and what a ride it was!
Tarvini is an idle so-and-so yet Linehan kept on persevering and eventually managed to get his mount home by a head – much to the delight of the 5-2 favourite bakers.
The strength and determination showed was remarkable and it’s little wonder that the Racing Post reported that the jockey brought his mount home in “McCoy-like manner” – especially given that he was donning the famous green and yellow silks of JP McManus.
If this guy goes on to become a champion – which he might – that ride will be looked back on in years to come.
Linehan had a quiet fortnight after Tarvini’s success and was beaten on 11-8 favourite Mission Complete at Ludlow on Monday of last week, but it was success again after that with the new sensation booting home Tarvini to another victory at Doncaster last Friday before landing a double at Towcester on Saturday on board Valley View and Spot The Ball.
The former was a steering job that Linehan merely had to coax home with Ruby Walsh-like finesse, but his effort on Spot The Ball was arguably even better than his first victory on Tarvini.
The 7-4 favourite was never going very well yet Linehan refused to throw in the towel and after jumping the last in contention he produced a power-packed finish to get the horse home by a neck.
It was amazingly reminiscent of a McCoy ride and not just because it was in the same colours. after two almost identical efforts on bone idle horses within a fortnight, Linehan’s heroics are no flash in the pan.
On what we’ve seen so far, Linehan looks the real deal – better than most professional jockeys and yet the O’Neill protege still claims an 8lbs claim.
It goes without saying that he won’t be long in losing that so be sure to make the most of it from a betting perspective while it lasts.
So, enough of his obvious talents, but just who is Maurice Linehan?
Well, he’s Irish, he’s obviously connected to the O’Neill stable and the Racing Post database shows that he has been riding over the National Hunt in Ireland for the last four years – albeit having only one ride in 2008-09 and three in 2009-10.
Last season saw his first winner on board Top Strategy at Punchestown.
The winning margin of that effort – a head – showed, even at that stage, the strengths of the clearly-talented jockey.
It won’t be the last time and expect to hear plenty more of Maurice Linehan in the months and years to come.
