Tweet
Dai Waters is the latest big profile jumps owner to be looking for one according to The Times. Off top of my head we now have ?
JP - AP
Giggy - Bryan Cooper
Barry Connell - Danny Mullins
Potts - Andrew Lynch
Dai - ?
Timmy and Davy both released from roles lately but not sure who he can get ?
Contrary view on the whole trend below - like the Piggott story
JP - AP
Giggy - Bryan Cooper
Barry Connell - Danny Mullins
Potts - Andrew Lynch
Dai - ?
Timmy and Davy both released from roles lately but not sure who he can get ?
Contrary view on the whole trend below - like the Piggott story
Very much a case of the tail wagging the dog
Saturday, January 11, 2014
The recent dismissal of Davy Russell as first jockey to Michael O’Leary’s Gigginstown House Stud poses a question or two.
The first that comes to mind is why do rich and powerful owners feel the need to have their own jockey in the first place?
“Is it an ego thing?’’ asked a trainer, privately of course, at Thurles on Monday and that is at least a possible reason.
After all, if you have enough money to buy just about anything you want in life, then having your own jockey might well be regarded as simply an extra toy!
Trainers, especially the more successful ones, have a system in place that they use day in and day out.
They know it works and very much part of the system is that have their own team.
The team are usually with the trainer for a long time and are well aware of how he thinks and operates. The trainer in turn trusts them implicitly.
But when an owner insists on his own jockey then he imposes that rider on a trainer.
You will never hear a word of complaint from trainers, certainly not for public consumption.
They will always take a horse irrespective of who is going to ride it. Putting principle before reality is just not a runner.
Principle certainly has no part to play when dealing with the top owners, who are likely to send you many horses. The more you get from someone, the greater the chance of particularly decent sorts being among them.
It has to drive at least some of the trainers daft, but they suck it up and get on with life.
And so jockeys, who are contracted to specific owners, often move around like nomads to all sorts of different trainers and become guests for the day.
That is all they will ever be, guests, and whether welcome or unwelcome is the interesting question.
Why many of the leading owners think like this is hard enough to understand. They clearly fit into the genius category when it comes to business, otherwise wouldn’t be in the position in which they find themselves.
They are blessed with an entrepreneurial acumen that the vast, vast majority of us do not possess.
So why does such clear thinking in the business world seemingly not extend to horse racing? Let’s take two examples, the Willie Mullins and Noel Meade stables.
I mean how many owners over the years have given Mullins and Meade a horse, on the basis they will be ridden by Ruby Walsh and Paul Carberry respectively?
But when an owner with his own jockey sends a horse to these two trainers they are effectively ruling out two of the greatest pilots, not just riding today, but of all time.
It seems silly and brings to mind a story a trainer told me a number of years ago. It had to do with a horse he had that was beaten into second in a driving finish at Royal Ascot.
At the time flat jockeys riding in Ireland were regarded as second-class citizens, something that was completely changed subsequently by Michael Kinane.
Anyway, the said trainer stayed loyal to an Irish based jockey and, after the horse was narrowly beaten, he met the late Paddy Prendergast senior.
“Jeez, wasn’t I unlucky today,” he remarked to Prendergast. He got no sympathy whatsoever, however, with Prendergast responding: “No you weren’t, I watched the race in the stands with Piggott.”
A colleague at Thurles on Monday put it well when he said: “Not using Walsh or Carberry is like Kerry leaving The Gooch on the sideline.’’
But, undaunted, these owners trundle on and the trainers, who eat, drink and sleep with their horses, and clearly know them best, often find themselves sidelined.
Here’s another tale that is utterly true. An Irish trainer, literally on his deathbed, was visited by one of his employees, who told him of his plans to train.
“Don’t,” said your man in the bed, “you’re not tough enough. When dealing with owners all you should leave them is their eyes with which to cry and you wouldn’t be able to do that.”
Owners have obviously come a long way since then, although there is now the feeling that, at least in some instances, it is a case of the tail very much wagging the dog.
Back to the firing of Russell by Gigginstown and the whole mystery of that sorry episode.
Gigginstown has been a fantastic plus for Irish National Hunt racing and punters love those maroon colours, because they always feel they are going to get a decent run for their money.
The organisation has poured massive money into the game, have given lots of employment and their input has been just about entirely positive.
But the Russell firing has left a sour taste and the reception the rider got when winning on Thats The Dream at Tramore on New Year’s Day was a fair indication of where the public’s sympathies lie.
No reason has been given for the parting and that is most unsatisfactory, even accepting their right to do what they think is best for them, he who pays the piper calls the tune and all such blather.
This week I went through all of Russell’s rides for Gigginstown since the Listowel festival and failed to come up with one where you could argue he should have won, when he didn’t.
I would even venture to suggest that the Russell of today, the champion jockey of the last two seasons, is a better rider than when first installed as Gigginstown top gun.
Saturday, January 11, 2014
The recent dismissal of Davy Russell as first jockey to Michael O’Leary’s Gigginstown House Stud poses a question or two.
The first that comes to mind is why do rich and powerful owners feel the need to have their own jockey in the first place?
“Is it an ego thing?’’ asked a trainer, privately of course, at Thurles on Monday and that is at least a possible reason.
After all, if you have enough money to buy just about anything you want in life, then having your own jockey might well be regarded as simply an extra toy!
Trainers, especially the more successful ones, have a system in place that they use day in and day out.
They know it works and very much part of the system is that have their own team.
The team are usually with the trainer for a long time and are well aware of how he thinks and operates. The trainer in turn trusts them implicitly.
But when an owner insists on his own jockey then he imposes that rider on a trainer.
You will never hear a word of complaint from trainers, certainly not for public consumption.
They will always take a horse irrespective of who is going to ride it. Putting principle before reality is just not a runner.
Principle certainly has no part to play when dealing with the top owners, who are likely to send you many horses. The more you get from someone, the greater the chance of particularly decent sorts being among them.
It has to drive at least some of the trainers daft, but they suck it up and get on with life.
And so jockeys, who are contracted to specific owners, often move around like nomads to all sorts of different trainers and become guests for the day.
That is all they will ever be, guests, and whether welcome or unwelcome is the interesting question.
Why many of the leading owners think like this is hard enough to understand. They clearly fit into the genius category when it comes to business, otherwise wouldn’t be in the position in which they find themselves.
They are blessed with an entrepreneurial acumen that the vast, vast majority of us do not possess.
So why does such clear thinking in the business world seemingly not extend to horse racing? Let’s take two examples, the Willie Mullins and Noel Meade stables.
I mean how many owners over the years have given Mullins and Meade a horse, on the basis they will be ridden by Ruby Walsh and Paul Carberry respectively?
But when an owner with his own jockey sends a horse to these two trainers they are effectively ruling out two of the greatest pilots, not just riding today, but of all time.
It seems silly and brings to mind a story a trainer told me a number of years ago. It had to do with a horse he had that was beaten into second in a driving finish at Royal Ascot.
At the time flat jockeys riding in Ireland were regarded as second-class citizens, something that was completely changed subsequently by Michael Kinane.
Anyway, the said trainer stayed loyal to an Irish based jockey and, after the horse was narrowly beaten, he met the late Paddy Prendergast senior.
“Jeez, wasn’t I unlucky today,” he remarked to Prendergast. He got no sympathy whatsoever, however, with Prendergast responding: “No you weren’t, I watched the race in the stands with Piggott.”
A colleague at Thurles on Monday put it well when he said: “Not using Walsh or Carberry is like Kerry leaving The Gooch on the sideline.’’
But, undaunted, these owners trundle on and the trainers, who eat, drink and sleep with their horses, and clearly know them best, often find themselves sidelined.
Here’s another tale that is utterly true. An Irish trainer, literally on his deathbed, was visited by one of his employees, who told him of his plans to train.
“Don’t,” said your man in the bed, “you’re not tough enough. When dealing with owners all you should leave them is their eyes with which to cry and you wouldn’t be able to do that.”
Owners have obviously come a long way since then, although there is now the feeling that, at least in some instances, it is a case of the tail very much wagging the dog.
Back to the firing of Russell by Gigginstown and the whole mystery of that sorry episode.
Gigginstown has been a fantastic plus for Irish National Hunt racing and punters love those maroon colours, because they always feel they are going to get a decent run for their money.
The organisation has poured massive money into the game, have given lots of employment and their input has been just about entirely positive.
But the Russell firing has left a sour taste and the reception the rider got when winning on Thats The Dream at Tramore on New Year’s Day was a fair indication of where the public’s sympathies lie.
No reason has been given for the parting and that is most unsatisfactory, even accepting their right to do what they think is best for them, he who pays the piper calls the tune and all such blather.
This week I went through all of Russell’s rides for Gigginstown since the Listowel festival and failed to come up with one where you could argue he should have won, when he didn’t.
I would even venture to suggest that the Russell of today, the champion jockey of the last two seasons, is a better rider than when first installed as Gigginstown top gun.
odd thing is owners rather than trainers doing the retaining
Comment