Hello all, This has been a more usual week of racing, with frozen ground causing racing to be cancelled in many locations and the return of the Jumpers Bumpers. Fortunately though the weather warmed up enough to allow the big weekend cards to race at Kempton, Chepstow and Wincanton. Review At Kempton we saw a 66/1 winner of the Lanzarote, with Boreham Bill winning nicely under Ben Jones. The 9 year old has been a good horse for the yard and he picked up a big prize here at a massive price. It didn't look a massively attractive field, and I doubt this race will have much of an impact on future big handicaps, but its a major win for Lavelle and Jones In the Graded races we saw a taking win for McFabulous in the rescheduled Relkeel Hurdle, winning with a degree of comfort despite being forced to race wide. He had leading form claims and he showed himself as a very talented individual, it will be interesting to see where he goes next, will they miss Cheltenham and aim for Aintree? Then we saw Master Tommytucker doing his best Kauto Star impression when belting the last fence as he romped away with the Silviniaco Conti a race that lost some of its appeal when Imperial Aura departed early. Master Tommytucker was impressive from the front, and bar the last fence demolition he showed a really taking level of ability. Clearly a horse that Paul Nicholls rates very highly, he has gone on record saying that he expects to win a grade 1 with him. Noting the King George as the ideal target next season. Over at Wincanton we saw a story of patience come to the fore with Messire Des Obeaux lowering the highly rated Protektorat. Another horse who made some brilliant jumps, MDO won very convincingly and has shown that if you are patient and can get horses over injuries, you can get big rewards. The former Challow Hurdle winner has shown brilliance over fences and they must be looking at him as a live contender for the Marsh at the festival. Protektorat is an interesting one, he didn't jump as well as he had at Cheltenham, and at points he went left at his fences. Perhaps he isn't to the level that people thought, or maybe he ran under his best here. Either way, the laboured manner of his effort will be of concern for the Skelton's as they head towards the spring. Then over in Wales, we had the brilliant Welsh National meeting, where we saw a David Pipe winner of a Grade 1 juvenile in Adagio. He lowered the colours of the well regarded Nassalem, and showed the form with Duffle Coat to be strong in context. However, my opinion here was that the race possibly came a shade too soon for Nassalem and that he ran such a promising race that he might be able to reverse places next time these meet. The Welsh National was won by a handicap blot, and a lovely performance by Secret Reprieve, who as a big rangy 7 year old could well improve into a really strong staying chaser. He jumped, he travelled and he was resolute in the finish. He gave the Welsh trainers another win in the race, and the meeting seems to be going from strength to strength. Eyecatcher The eyecatcher comes from the racing at Exeter today where Bear Ghylls won on handicap debut off a mark of 130. He is clearly a very talented horse with a big future, but it was the way he managed to make mistakes in the race and then pick back up off those to win with a good level of conviction. He will be pushed up the handicap, but from a mark around 140 I think he could still be very well handicapped, and if that is at the festival then it could give the yard a big day in the sun. And Finally, one story that caught my eye this week was the Bryony Frost interview in the Guardian - https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2...ays-frown-opinions-are-not-facts-horse-racing Well worth a read, and perhaps we can all speculate or ponder what she is alluding to in her replies. Clearly she isn't happy about something and it seems that she is open to discussing it wider with the authorities.
For me the performance of the week was Adagio’s. I thought he did it very well in winning the ‘Finale’. The Pipe’s first Grade 1 in almost 6 years. He now has to be considered a valid ‘Triumph Hurdle’ candidate. The disappointment was Pistol Whipped flattering to deceive in yesterday’s 0-140 handicap chase at Kempton Park. The de Boinville boy pressed the button to win the race but the response was extremely limited to say the least (and that's being polite). Pistol Whipped certainly has the ability there but it may prove rather difficult for connections to fully extract it! Still if anyone can Lieutenant Henderson can, says I. Unless the horse is further hindered by being hit hard by the handicapper for yesterday’s near miss, of course.
nice write up mate , interesting interview with bryony , did you hear adam wedge after winning the welsh national , obviously emotional , he’d had two falls on earlier rides , when asked if that affected him “ this is a mans game “ , with venom ...........i recall tabetha worsley , had some horrendous injuries , nearly crippled her , came back and rode some daring winners , truth is , it’s about opportunity, and we all know how that can get skewed
Bear Ghylls has been declared to run again on Tuesday at Wetherby. In a 0-140. Would have a 7 lbs penalty for today’s win if they opt for a quick follow up.
Interesting interview Nass; and typical. Disappointed with AP for that comment. At least Ruby was complimentary and she, being the positive girl she is, took the latter to heart, rather than the former
I think you‘ll find it was Evan Williams who came out with the „man‘s game“ quote on ITV, resulting in profuse apologies for any offence caused by Ed Chamberlin. An innocent slip of the tongue I’m sure.
From reading the Guardian interview it sounded like Bryony was talking about the difficulties for young riders, rather than sexism?
The poor run of form of Lieutenant Henderson continues and I wouldn’t touch one of his with a barge pole at the moment. Hopefully he can turn it round by mid-March. The fall of Imperial Aura put a bit of a damper on proceedings for me personally but I guess jumping is the name of the game and thankfully horse and jockey are both OK. Sounds like he goes straight to the Ryanair. I have to agree Adagio looked very good but I can’t help feeling the Triumph Hurdle is firmly in Irish hands this time around, hopefully with Duffle Coat. The Welsh National winner is certainly a horse to follow - he was so well in at the weights on Saturday though that even Nass would have won on him A shame that Naas was abandoned on Sunday, it would have no doubt been an interesting and informative meeting.
I didn't hear the interviews, it doesn't surprise me that people talk in that manner, the sentiment that its a tough sport is fair enough but as we've seen, if females are given rides they will win races. It does make me ponder whether we will see a time when jockeys are stood down more easily after falls. Wedge took two hefty falls, and it could be questioned (devils advocate here) that he might not have been at his best for the big ride because of them. It all worked out, and it was a lovely win for them though!
I'd be surprised if they rushed him, he is still big and raw and needs time and education. A bit like many on here really!
ITV were a bit comical really - Evan Williams, as tough as they come and honest as the day is long, said it during an interview which he had to stop as he couldn't go on talking through the tears. It meant so much to him to win the Welsh National and it was just an off the cuff remark. They then cut to Ed Chamberlain who was all "oh I'm sure Evan didn't mean any offence" etc. I'm sure it will be filed somewhere under mansplaining or some such. Looks like the world has been spared the ****-storm on this one thank goodness
A lot of fuss about nothing. The world has gone really mad when a bloke who has been squashed twice rides an emotional winner and in the moment when asked about his afternoon say’s ‘it’s a man’s game’. Venom is your word and gives the impression he had something against women, which was certainly not conveyed. Everyone should grow up.
It is a stupid thing to say though, especially given all of the issues other sports have had in terms of long term health post injuries. This attitude makes racing look less professional, less open and more intimidating for "outsiders". It is a storm in a teacup, however it is something that needs sorting.
But it was said in the heat of the moment and there was no venom nor was it spat out. It was said by a man who had just jumped round 30f, was slightly dehydrated, had probably lost a few pounds in weight, had had a couple of nasty falls and was in a moment of elation.
Afraid that isn't enough, actually that raises the questions more about jockeys health, wellbeing and whether rules need looking at for jockeys riding after bad falls. He said it, and it needs looking at. It isn't a big issue for Adam or Evan, both didn't seem to mean it as a negative for females in the sport, but it is easy to use their words against the sport. Do we think there is some issues in the sport around gender? I am sure there is, especially in National Hunt racing, and it needs looking at if the BHA are going to continue this 'A sport for everyone' approach they are taking. Personally, I would want them to look at the risks jockeys are taking and whether riding after two bad falls is acceptable. Personally I think the sport is leaps ahead of others (Rugby being a high profile one) but we have seen what injuries and health issues have done to some jockeys.
I've been saying for years they ought to just generally up the weights by a stone. On the flat you would then have jockeys between 9 and 11 stone, and over jumps 11-13 stone. Yes it would make the comparison between future starts and Arkle more difficult but that has long-since been proven to be pointless . EOS.
One of the very few good things to come out of the pandemic (I can think of one other) is that jockeys have been given an allowance because they can't use saunas! So jockeys are getting an additional 3lb allowance. This should remain (as Fran Berry stated - https://www.sportinglife.com/racing/news/weight-allowance-should-stay/182917) I think racing would be missing a trick if the sport didn't look at weights and increase the minimum weight. I would be in favour of shrinking the handicap if need be, rather than jockeys having to ride at ridiculously low weights. (the other positive is the riding at one meeting a day rule)
It's just a natural human reaction...don't see anything wrong with it and sadly it all stems back to the PC world we now live in. It shouldn't even have been something cheesy Ed Chamberlain picked up on. Dont agree it impacts on the professionalism of the sport..it does though I guess to those that want to analyse every word/dissect everything and be all politically correct about every single thing. In the real world though that doesn't happen.