Whether to pull up or not

BlazingWalker

BlazingWalker

At the Start
Joined
Jan 2, 2008
Messages
482
Location
Yorkshire
Firstly,I'm no jockey and don't even ride, but I have common sense and am becoming a bit dis-illusioned with jockey's who continue riding horse's and making them jump obstacles when all chance as gone:mad:

Although today's instance didn't result in an injury or worse, (winded and laid on ground for 5 minutes), what was the point of making the horse jump the last when he was clearly tired and you were last anywhere??? There was no prizemoney involved for finishing third, as far as I can see, and given the connections would they have really needed it?? I refer to the 3.00 at Newton Abbot and a certain 5lb claimer who has ridden enough horse's to really know better. All this happened in front of the grandstand with a full Sunday crowd. Not the best bit of publicty and more ammunition for the anti -jumps/racing brigade.
 
Agree 100% with you, BW. I'm pretty sick of seeing total no-hopers still being forced at fences when they are not just out of contention, but also nearly out of the county. Okay, there's the old 'ride to obtain best position' argument, but if your position is going to be anywhere from 10th to 20th, it doesn't count. It'll just be another duck egg on form, so why worry? PU, let the horse recover and hope to do better in future.

I can only think that it also unnecessarily exhausts some horses, so they need longer to recover at home, or mentally disappoints them to be pushed when they can hardly lift their legs, that they will lose confidence in racing. Like several people on here, I'm sure that as a youngster I saw enough over-ambitious brats on under-talented ponies determined to not come last in the bending race, with the result that the ponies ended up in a froth of panicky sweat and stripes on their backsides which they didn't deserve. None of it's pretty, and yes, it ought to stop. We are, after all, supposedly the more intelligent of the two creatures involved!
 
There was a four figure prize for third place today and the horse in question wasn't a no-hoper. It seemed Sam T-D thought there was another horse to beat when still riding along 2 out (he was still in front at the third last), and while he certainly should have eased Otage de Brion down somewhat, the correct thing to do in this case would be to pop the last for the prize-money, rather than ride full pelt into the fence. I tend to agree about the general point though.
 
My thoughts were in general on the issue - I'm not watching NH these days if I can help it, but overall I'm sick of seeing all tired horses, on the Flat, in Bumpers, hurdles or chases, being whacked over the last furlong or fence to obtain a feeble 9th or try for place money which hardly covers one month's training fees.
 
In general, most trainers will want their jockey to finish a race. In Ireland, it takes longer to drop down the handicap with three Ps beside your name rather than three 0s. Might explain the bunch of runners out the back of Irish hurdles running around together when their chance is gone. All to get a few pounds off.
 
There's generally prizemoney for first four home, or first six - so I can't see any reason to pull up a horse in third unless you feel he's actually broken down
 
But I doubt that most trainers want their horses lying spark out, which was BW's point in this instance. There has to be some commonsense involved - if your horse is just a plodder and you feel he's likely to get a clear round in his own time, then sure, try for 3rd or 4th or just not to come last. If, however, you've got a horse which has tired rapidly and who you should be able to understand is running on empty, then just remember the size of the jumps and the effort required to clear them efficiently. A tired jump often means a crumple on landing, which is the effect obtained in the race BW takes umbrage with. It's down to good horsemanship and commonsense.
 
I think Kri as summed it up on my behalf perfectly in her last post.

A couple of points, the prizemoney listed on the results page of RP only had 2 amounts so I was assuming it was first two places,my mistake. I imagine though,the four figure sum for third was @ £2000 or less. I'm sure the owners could live without that for a while (the £18k they won in May should have tide them over for a while) rather than let him take a tired fall.

It looked to me as though the horse was out on his feet after jumping the 2nd last,he jumped it slow and then seemed to go slower, as SWC gave him a rather large crack with the whip (pointed out by Rory), and rather than risk injury this is where the commonsense factor should come in and one would think that the jockey is well educated enough to have commonsense, although I have found in life that some of the brightest sparks out there have none! I would have had no problems if he had had any semblence of a chance 2 out but he hadn't barring the other two falling at the last. I'm also no form expert but a quick glance at the horse's form shows that he his not as good on Good to Soft or worse and this was the first time he'd tackled this distance (in a chase) on this ground,common sense really:whistle:
 
One can only hope the horse has now been soured enough to do a Sariska and refuse to start next time...although of course it won't, as it sounds like a gallant type that will give its all....
 
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