Road To The Champion Hurdle

Good to see this wasn't tolerated.

MAGUIRE MISSES PEDDLERS CROSS RIDE

Jason Maguire suffered a hammer blow at Doncaster with a seven-day suspension ruling him out of the ride on Peddlers Cross in the Stan James Champion Hurdle on March 15.
The in-form Irishman found himself in trouble with the Town Moor stewards following his ride on the Donald McCain-trained Cool Mission, who finished runner-up to Beshabar in a driving finish to the three-mile beginners' chase.
His ban will be effective from March 9-15 inclusive. Five days of the ban was for marking the horse, with two days for using his whip with excessive frequency.
McCain's Peddlers Cross beat reigning two-mile king Binocular in the Fighting Fifth Hurdle in November, and demonstrated his current well-being with a long odds-on success at Kelso last week.
Stipendiary steward Robert Earnshaw said: "He has been suspended for using hiswhip on Cool Mission. The veterinary officer found that the horse had minor weals, for which he was suspended five days.
"He was also suspended two days for using his whip with excessive frequency."
 
The below are awful comments, and reflect very very poorly on both of these chumps.

Maguire said: "It's very frustrating for me because it's the first day of Cheltenham and I'm due to ride Peddlers Cross.
"I'm obviously going to have to appeal and see what happens.
"I gave the horse a strong ride. It's the marking that's caused the problem.
"Once you mark a horse there's no comeback from that, but something has to be done about that rule.
"We are all interested in the welfare of horses but there has to be some leeway for the jockeys."
McCain said: "The stewards in the north have been chasing us all year and now they've got us.
"This has happened an awful lot with my horses in the north and it's becoming a joke.
"I don't stop horses, we don't abuse horses - they are always at the tough end of racing - and all we do is our best.
"The horse has been marked - I can't argue with that - but the horse is notoriously lazy at the best of times.
"Jason is devastated as they've cost him a Champion Hurdle ride.
"At least I've still got a Champion Hurdle horse - he hasn't got anything and has put in so much work with the horse."
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I can't see anything wrong with the ride; I've seen far worse efforts from Tony McCoy, which his use of the whip far more excessive, and no punishment handed down.
 
Hamm said:
The below are awful comments, and reflect very very poorly on both of these chumps.
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I haven't seen the incident so have no have no comment on the the act yet. But is McCain defending his jockey any different than Wenger or Ferguson coming out and defending one of their players after a blatant red.
 
Harm a horse, harm a human opponent....

McCain done no different to any manager i've seen interviewed on television this past 10 years. Defend those who you have a vested interest in be they right or wrong
 
Unless a jockey has stopped, shot or beat a horse to death he should not be banned form Cheltenham. We need a rule change in both codes to stop top jockeys missing the top races.



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Hamm said:
we need the opposite. and for jockeys who beat up horses on a run in to be disqualified.
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Bollox Hamm, absolute bollox!!! Maguire misses Cheltenham for doing everything within his power to win and Carberry and Townend do almost everything in their powers to win by as little as possible and lose and get away scot free!!! A couple of small weal marks - Jesus Christ what is the world coming to!:mad::mad:
 
It's so disappointing when a jockey riding a high profile horse misses it whether its a ban or an injury. If Peddlers Cross somehow manages to win a Champion Hurdle under another jockey I hope Maguire is in a padded room.
 
Did Maguire not get done for frequency rather than force? Is he not supposed to give the horse three strides before striking it again. He did two near the end very close to each other.
 
On The Bridle said:
Just watched the Dunguib race there now - what was Davy Russell at - did he seriously think he was going to beat Dunguib for toe???:confused::confused:
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I had planned to have a good bet on Luska Lad until I read the Racing Posr in the morning and the shark saying he was going to use different tactics as Dunguib would pull hard. That was enough to put me ff. Luska can only win one way.....go fast on heavy ground.
 
On The Bridle said:
Bollox Hamm, absolute bollox!!! Maguire misses Cheltenham for doing everything within his power to win and Carberry and Townend do almost everything in their powers to win by as little as possible and lose and get away scot free!!! A couple of small weal marks - Jesus Christ what is the world coming to!:mad::mad:
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First of all, calm down.

They are not comparable so I don't understand what you are getting to. Just because Townend and Carberry got off doesn't make it right.
 
Of course, hand-wringing over weal marks when horses die at race-tracks every day is a bit of an odd position too.

No matter.

The rules are the rules. I'm pretty sure Dunwoody missed the Festival in it's entirety one yea, after trying to put Luke Harvey through a rail at a ludicrously minor event three weeks before Cheltenham. Jason Maguire should take his punishment and any appeal should be tossed out.
 
Grasshopper said:
Of course, hand-wringing over weal marks when horses die at race-tracks every day is a bit of an odd position too.

No matter.

The rules are the rules. I'm pretty sure Dunwoody missed the Festival in it's entirety one yea, after trying to put Luke Harvey through a rail at a ludicrously minor event three weeks before Cheltenham.
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That should have got him a medal, some might say. For the sake of accuracy, Dunwoody's ban which saw him miss part of the Festival came in 1994 when forcing Adrian Maguire through the wing of a hurdle at Nottingham, and while the incident with Harvey (at Uttoxeter) the following January got him a whopping 30 days, he was back in time for Cheltenham. He could be a right git at times.
 
Hamm said:
First of all, calm down.

They are not comparable so I don't understand what you are getting to. Just because Townend and Carberry got off doesn't make it right.
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I am now calm Hamm.........,

I had just found out about the ban and immediately posted with blood boiling..... which is never prudent.... apologies as the post was not intended to be personnally aimed at you. Nobody wants to see horses hurt in any way shape or form and naively we all seek a sense of fairness and natural justice. I still feel that the ban Jason Maguire has been given is penal. Especially so in respect of its timing and effect. I believe there is an article penned in today's RP which more eloquently puts forward my arguement (haven't read it yet).


There is one jockey in Ireland I won't use ever again after severely marking one of my horses and this a horse who gives absolutely everything without being butchered. There is a big difference between a small weal mark which will recede in a hour or so and drawing blood!!

I do accept that Jason Maguire should have known what was around the corner and tempered his riding with this in mind - but I find it slightly disconcerting in our racing world which is viewed from outside with suspicion and a degree of cynicism that someone gets banned for tryng too hard!!
 
Having backed Peddler's Cross I am gutted Maguire won't be riding but this has been coming. He is about the hardest jock around at the moment. For a punter that's a great thing because you always know what you're going to get with Maguire (And McCain's horses) but sometimes he is too aggressive and i'm not surprised he's picked up a ban for excessive frequency. You could watch all of his rides this week and I bet a few of them would be borderline.
 
No need for any apology, we just see it differently. I agree with you about Carberry and Townend, and it is a real shame they haven't been it with very lengthy bans.

What annoys me about the whole thing is they (McCain and Maguire) can't see that he has broken the rules in quite a straight forward manner, yet are whingeing about being targeted by stewards and that the marks on the horse are not such a big deal - he hit the horse 18 times in the last 4 fences (race maximum is 16). They need to shut up, imho, accept their punishment, and realise Maguire made a big mistake.
 
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If this was on the flat, wouldn't Maguire be able to defer the suspension on days when there is a Gr1 race? Or is it that his offence is too serious to allow that element of flexibility?
 
Grey said:
If this was on the flat, wouldn't Maguire be able to defer the suspension on days when there is a Gr1 race? Or is it that his offence is too serious to allow that element of flexibility?
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Only if the ban was for 4 days or less. As it's a 7-day ban, that's not possible.
 
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