Riding Instructions

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Bluesky9

Bluesky9

Philosopher
Jun 21, 2011
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I have just been pleased to see Gavlar win at Goodwood after being perplexed by the naivity of his racing instruction on the two previous occasions - this prompted me to post a thread venting my frustartions at tactics we see employed everyday in racing even in the year 2015, a time by which most trainers and jockeys should know better.

Getting the trip
I get very frustrated with certain accepted norms of race riding such as the idea that if a horse is not proven at the trip he should be held up at the back. A note to all trainers - as your horse is not making the running and thus controlling the pace you will still be asked to cover the amount of ground necessary in the time it takes to come first, if once settled at the back you are travelling at the same speed as those in front you are not saving one ounce of energy..... what you are doing however is giving a head start.

Hence any jockey who is asked to hold his mount up at the back as the horse is unsure to get the trip should ignore the trainer completely on scientific grounds. Trainers should always ask the jockey to ride the horse as if he will get the trip so that you find out.

Held up
Held up should mean asking the horse for his racing kick as late as possible rather than seated at the back as it is often interpreted. A horse needs do three things, break, travel and race. Held up is an instruction for a horse with a short burst as opposed to our Squire who takes an age to get into top gear and needs asking to race early. Whenever the jock asks however he should only have used the earlier part of the race to ensure that when asked to race the horse does so from a position he can win from.

All weather instructions
Always ride a start to sit in the first third - never give up a good draw because you imagine your horse needs holding up. If drawn wide either race early to negate the effect or drop in and hope and accept if it goes wrong you had no choice. Do not ever expect to travel wide all round however by doing half of each as it never works. Do not ask your horse to race mid race to overcome the draw unless the pace is embarrassingly slow. Start is everything in this sphere.

Make all
If the trainer says make all and another horse is equally insistent drop back as your horse could only conceivably overcome the other horse by racing him and you should know as a jockey your horse can only be asked to race once and that burst will only last a short distance usually from half a furlong to 3 furlongs, you will not win if racing another horse in the first half of the race.

Ultimately some races just don't work out for you and there is nothing a jock can do - the horse is asleep at the start, the horse gets boxed in despite all attempts by yourself, it gets sandwiched, and all this is to just be accepted, the frustration is when the jock or trainer over think themselves and get the horse beat.
 
Do you not think that some of the time it's deliberate by the owner/trainer giving a horse a certain ride to but try and win the race? That way they get a better price in future race or get a race with better prize money etc.. Or is this me being too cynical?!
 
I am sure most trainers at some point seek not to win but often you can see there is no lack of effort going on and many are backed heavily, and it's these rides I refer to. Gavlar is the horse that prompted the post as he won today when ridden how any punter of basic sense would tell you how to ride him. If you watch his last two runs they defy belief, and yet he was backed into fav or near enough both times. I feel there is a lack of basic tactical awareness in some trainers and jockeys and a reliance on race riding cliché.
 
I think maybe that, although going the same speed, being tucked in behind others seems to take less effort. Less resistance possibly? It would certainly help if running into a head wind. Other than that I agree,
 
In fairness it can take many runs before you fully realise how your horse needs to be ridden. I know a lot of people on here think you should find out at home on the gallops but that is complete and utter twaddle. You rarely gallop in more than pairs and the lads that ride them every day know what they are going to do. Race day jockeys sit on them once a month. Factor into this that many behave totally different on the track than at home and you have a right conundrum.
 
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I agree completely Stick and if you have a two year old, unless you know you have got a high quality horse for who his handicap mark is going to be irrelevant then his/her first 3 runs should be about testing your suspicions and running too short to see if indeed it is too short or too far to see if it is too far. After 3 or 4 runs and if employing an experienced jockey you should have a pretty good idea how the horse should be ridden and what his trip is, give or take a furlong. My gripe is about basic and continued tactical mistakes of the like that get horses beaten each week without need. We always be mindful of the fact that sometimes things don't work out but it's when the jockey got in the way of the horse through his own lack of basic race riding awareness or trainers giving bad instructions.

I am still at a loss as to how every race Kingman ran in last year after the Guineas it was as if the other jocks and trainers conspired to make him look as good as he possibly could at the expense of their own horses chances. Whilst regarding the race today that prompted the post why Gavlar's connections genuinely thought that Gavlar's chances of winning his previous two races would be helped by giving 15 lengths head start until racing in the final two furlongs.

My frustration is I just want to show them that based on logic, common sense and even science to a degree that the outcome using their tactics is entirely predictable.
 
I think dropping a horse in is less stamina consuming, therefore will give a suspect stayer more chance of getting the trip, as at the start of a race a front runner or even a horse that likes to be handy will quite often use up abit of gas just trying to get a decent position from the break, particularly if they are drawn wide. Where as a hold up horse doesn't need to use up any energy to get a good racing position.

Horses that race handy or at the front, can throw the race away at the start if they don't get into the position they need to be. So jockeys will often sacrifice abit of gas on these types of horses early just to ensure they get to where they need to be.

I would agree with your logic if they where just racing against the clock, but when your fighting for track position against other rivals, it is more stamina consuming racing a horse handy or front running. As you end up running an uneven race to get the position your horse needs early.

There seems to be this misconception that it requires more class and talent to win races using hold up tactics. But this is far from the case IMO.

Look at most G1 races and you'll rarely see a horse make all and this is because it takes a horse with exceptional talent and a far bigger engine to win a G1 in that manner. Its far easier to use cowardly stalking tactics and pounce once the others have cut each other's throats out infront, as running from the back your horse usually ends up running a more even race.

The only time it can be beneficial to be a front runner is in small field races, where you are able to get an uncontested soft lead.

Look throughout history at some of the greats who have been able to run from the front and you would be hard pressed to name many if any who had bigger engines. The likes of Frankel, Dubai Millenium and Secretariat all managed to do it, and the races they did run from the front, are usually looked upon as there finest achievements. Frankels Guineas, Dubai Millenniums Dubai World Cup and Secretariat's Belmont. I'm not sure there are many hold up horses that have put up performances as good as the 3 mentioned:biggrin:
 
I agree that front running is a particular art and will not prove beneficial tactics for most. I also agree that a horse forced to race early to front run is unlikely to win, the scientific bit is that once another horse decides the pace you are obliged to race at that pace (unless the pack choose to let him go) and so if at the back you save not one ounce of energy from the front horse, yet he retains a head start once the racing begins. Always try to be in the top 4 or 5 in a 10 runner race but not leading, the top 5 or 10 in a 20 runner race but not leading.

If I were a jock my plan in every race would be to break and get a position in the first half of the field but not at the front, the ideal place is with cover but no more than half way back as otherwise you are giving a head start once the racing begins. The three stages are break - travel - race, and every length you are behind a horse at the time the racing begins makes your job of winning harder.

break - you may not get the place you want but you must try, it's not acceptable to pop out and see what happens.

Travel - get the horse into a rhythm and allow him to hold his position as long as possible, he will have to begin to race if either his travelling naturally comes to an end and he is forced to race to hold his position (unlikely to win) or hopefully according to his needs he is asked to race to win at the appropriate time, a long wind up horse needs to asked sooner than one with a turn of foot who can be held on to later.

Riding a finish - On no account whip twizzle. A jock needs understand the whip is used as a sign to race, to encourage to find more or to steer. If the horse is running straight the jock should never change hands as I have seen so many small margin races lost by a jockey pulling his whip through for no reason. The horse picks up his instructions through your feet and your weight and if you change your weight slightly to pull a whip through some will wonder what you are asking and this momentary pause can be visibly seen at times, it's unnecessary - just drive and if the horse responds to the whip use it if he is giving all put it down and drive, drive, drive. You only pull the whip through and change hands if he drifts.
 
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