Seamus Heffernan

Cantoris said:
That won't work.
In fact the bigger jocks are normally the ones that don't follow instructions at all and make a complete mess of it.
Click to expand...

You wouldn't have a renewal of the Champion Hurdle in mind that was won by a 16/1 shot coming through after a suicidal early pace would you? :whistle:
 
Alan Sweetman holds no punches in his article today although I thought it was pretty bad when he said that Levey was given free reign on HC while Heffernan was given instructions for Drumbeat. That's a little below the belt in my view but the rest of his article was pretty good and nice to see someone standing up against Coolmore and their tactics.
 
Cantoris said:
Alan Sweetman holds no punches in his article today although I thought it was pretty bad when he said that Levey was given free reign on HC while Heffernan was given instructions for Drumbeat. That's a little below the belt in my view but the rest of his article was pretty good and nice to see someone standing up against Coolmore and their tactics.
Click to expand...

Indeed,pulled no punches but was more than fair.
 
EC1 said:
still not a word of criticism against AOB

they are his instructions for goodness sake

its like AOB is pope isn't it?
Click to expand...

All due respect, that's nonsense. Aidan gets plenty of criticism on here and it's here on record. The thread is about Heffernan and his belief that he can slag other people for doing their job correctly having taken the Kings shilling himself.
 
At risk of being controversial, since I'll get plenty of stick for saying so; fair play to Heffernan for saying what every other jockey thinks. I'm afraid that what he says is right, he IS riding for A O Brien and the horse's owners, not the punters, and I wish people would get out of this ridiculous mindset. Any jockey I put on my horses is riding for ME, and not for anyone else, least of all the punters. I pay the bills (and they're not cheap) and issue the instructions so everyone else can jog on so far as I am concerned.
 
I wish you would get out of your ridiculous mindset. Your post is symptomatic of many of racing's problems, with little attention being given to the average punter, or racing enthusiast, without whom racing would cease to exist in it's present form. For all that the BHA are spending millions with that mickey mouse consultancy firm, I am of the opinion if they change the attitude described above by you within racing, they will go a long way to make racing more attractive to Joe Public.
 
If there were no owners forking out for these horses, there would be no punting for you lot and you'd be stuck with betting on flies crawling up the wall. So I wish that 'the punters' in particular would stop taking the piss and assuming that it is the owners that owe them a living.

At the end of the day the owner pays the bills, the jockey is answerable to the trainer, and what the punters think matters little.
 
'You lot'
Click to expand...
I doubt very much you are a big owner, despite the fact you try to behave like one. No need to adopt a condescening tone.

owners that owe them a living
Click to expand...
Where did I (or anyone else) say anything even approaching that sentiment? What i do think is every horse should be ridden on it's merits (not good enough to say 'owner/trainer told me to ride that way', and jockey subsequently gets off) and that a reasonable amount of information should be made available to the public. After all, they fund a reasonable amount of the prize money for owners.
 
I'm not conding horses cheating or not being ridden on its merits; nor am I commenting on this ride since I haven't seen it. I am talking about Heffernan's comment alone; it makes me angry that people get so indignant about such a comment. Any jockeys that ride for me answer to me, and not the general public I'm afraid.

Why on earth did you have to make that personal and be so bloody rude? It has nothing to do with you - or with what I am saying - whether or not I am a "big owner" or not, and, since you wish to drag it to such a level, I would be a 'bigger' owner than the vast majority of posters on this forum, not that it matters a jot. But the fact is that yes, I am an owner and am as such perfectly entitled to speak as one.

Or maybe you'd like to foot my insignificant training fees and bills for the horses, since they're clearly so small and don't matter?
 
Your comment 'You lot' is the only rude one I see myself, written as 'you lot' being mere punters, and not owners. It's not in any way a personal comment, it's a response to your post.

Heffernan, and other jockeys, are answerable to Joe public, via the Stewards and the BHA.

The arrogance of owners in racing is incredible.
 
I'll ask you again - would you like to pay my training fees? I certainly pay enough to merit earning the pitiful prize money there is.

At the end of the day, jockeys are answerable to the owners and trainers,the ones who pay their fees, not the public I'm afraid.
 
The jockeys are answerable to the rules of racing first and foremost, not what owners and trainers tell them to do.
 
Yes, so you wasted no time at all in wading in with the personal insults looking to agree to disagree, didn't you? :rolleyes:

And by the way, when I said 'you lot' it was pretty much referring to all those screaming outrage at Heffernan's comments, nothing more sinister than that. But since you think it is all 'us and them' anyway and cannot wait to make another dig at those pesky owners who take, take, take and give nothing to racing, I wouldn't expect you to think any different really.
 
Providing their actions are within the rules of racing, I don't think 'the general public' will have any complaints to that.
 
"Seamie Heffernan has withdrawn his appeal against the four-day ban he picked up at Gowran Park on Friday.
The dual Irish Derby-winning jockey was deemed by the local stewards to have ridden an injudicious race after finishing second on Drumbeat, trained by Aidan O'Brien, in the Gowran Park Race over nine and a half furlongs.
The evens favourite was beaten four and a half lengths by his stable companion Hail Caesar, who made all the running in a field of five.
Heffernan is banned on July 24, 26, 27 and 28 which rules him out of the Phoenix Stakes meeting at the Curragh and the first two days of the Galway Festival".

Source: PA
 
SteveM said:
"Seamie Heffernan has withdrawn his appeal against the four-day ban he picked up at Gowran Park on Friday.
The dual Irish Derby-winning jockey was deemed by the local stewards to have ridden an injudicious race after finishing second on Drumbeat, trained by Aidan O'Brien, in the Gowran Park Race over nine and a half furlongs.
The evens favourite was beaten four and a half lengths by his stable companion Hail Caesar, who made all the running in a field of five.
Heffernan is banned on July 24, 26, 27 and 28 which rules him out of the Phoenix Stakes meeting at the Curragh and the first two days of the Galway Festival".

Source: PA
Click to expand...

you have pay a price for riding to exact instructions..as well as being called clueless, dumb, numpty etc

I feel sorry for Heffernan and any other jockeys who are "controlled" so much.

it does prove that the idea that horses are supposedly being ridden on merit is naive and isnt/hasn't ever happened.

the only way a punter can benefit from jockeys that are given exact instructions is to lay the horses in running that are clearly..mis-paced...Heffernan looks a really suitable jockey for this ..I wonder if there other trainers who give similar ..ignore the pace..I'm the boss..instructions.

so its not all bad news for punters

again though..speaking personally..I look for an angle..because I know how the game is panning out.....I would think to a rookie punter that having to know these sorts of things..on top of the massive subject that is horse racing...it could be daunting to anyone starting out betting on racing...and is likely to make the game for too difficult to even bother with.

then again..if you are going to pick a sport to bet on..you must get to know as much as you can about it

I wonder how a rookie punter views these sports when assessing the difficulty of actually making money from them

POKER
FOOTBALL
RACING
GOLF
TENNIS
HORSE RACING

I can guarantee that just from that short list..horse racing looks far the hardest sport to get into from scratch...so we know what is going to happen over the next 10 years don't we?
 
Last edited:
I agree with what Hamm has to say - well most of it. It is particularly the case in Ireland considering where the vast amount of prizemoney comes from.
Fair dues to Heffernan....apologies are far and few.
 
And, what bloody part don't you agree with then?! :D

I wasn't aware he apologised - good to see. Anyone can make a mistake or say something in the heat of the moment.
 
Back
Top