Racing Thread

[Doobs]

Richard Johnson: Leading jump jockey in shock retirement



https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/horse-racing/56615202

Click to see full-size image.

I saw this earlier and don't get why you wouldn't just wait a week for Aintree.  Maybe he was just going to get no really good horses? 

[arbboy]

Dicky had his first winner 3 weeks after i had my first ever bet on the national in 1994.  Amazing longevity for a NH jockey.   Proper legend.   Run into the GOAT 16 times runner up champion jockey.  Strange timing for his low key departure but he said he wanted to go out on a Hobbs trained horse.

[tikay]

Dicky had his first winner 3 weeks after i had my first ever bet on the national in 1994.  Amazing longevity for a NH jockey.   Proper legend.   Run into the GOAT 16 times runner up champion jockey.  Strange timing for his low key departure but he said he wanted to go out on a Hobbs trained horse.

Extraordinary, isn't it? What heart he has.

[arbboy]

It really is because as soon as AP retired he won four straight jockeys titles at an age he was way past his peak.   The season is effectively over now and if he was going to hang them up at the end of it nice for him to go out in the SW at a gaff track riding for his boss.  His local track Hereford where he rode his first winner and grew up had a meeting tomorrow cancelled so maybe the plan was to retire there tomorrow but when it was called off he brought it forward to today.  Who knows.  Would make sense.

[Doobs]

It really is because as soon as AP retired he won four straight jockeys titles at an age he was way past his peak.   The season is effectively over now and if he was going to hang them up at the end of it nice for him to go out in the SW at a gaff track riding for his boss.  His local track Hereford where he rode his first winner and grew up had a meeting tomorrow cancelled so maybe the plan was to retire there tomorrow but when it was called off he brought it forward to today.  Who knows.  Would make sense.

Just checked the Hobbs runners at Aintree and there isn't much so far.  The only runner outside the handicaps is Sporting John, and he is a bit in and out, and there are a few smart ones in his race.  I assume Thyme Hill is still injured so isn't going to run on Saturday.

You can also understand why he wouldn't go out after the National if he was set on retiring (you could really hurt yourself and you couldn't really announce your retirement whilst some other big racing news story was going on.

It probably makes sense now I have thought about it a bit more.

[Doobs]

I am normally a big fan of these bans, but this was Stowell's first race and you wouldn't expect him to go crazy on a first time runner when the other horse went well clear when it was stuck behind horses.  Seriously, did anybody think he was going to get anything other than second when he got clear?

https://www.sportinglife.com/racing/news/watch-21-day-ban-for-rab-havlin/191153

Presumably Jack Kennedy got a worse ban after his Tiger Roll ride at Aintree?  

[Doobs]

I am normally a big fan of these bans, but this was Stowell's first race and you wouldn't expect him to go crazy on a first time runner when the other horse went well clear when it was stuck behind horses.  Seriously, did anybody think he was going to get anything other than second when he got clear?

https://www.sportinglife.com/racing/news/watch-21-day-ban-for-rab-havlin/191153

Presumably Jack Kennedy got a worse ban after his Tiger Roll ride at Aintree?  

https://mobile.twitter.com/LydiaHislop/status/1385862973751713797

Lydia Hislop asked John Gosden about this.  Apparently he gives instructions for horses not to be whipped first time out. 

I find it all a bit baffling as you see so many horses given an easy ride first time out that it just doesn't seem odd to see one get an easy ride.  How often do you see an expensive horse really getting a really aggressive ride first time out? If you bet on maidens regularly surely you understand this before betting. 

It is horses that get an easy ride after a couple of runs that are much more concerning.  The Tiger Roll ride was ridiculous as we have all seen him running his heart out before and the horse hasn't even hot many races left, if by some chance they did "ruin" him by making more than a half-arsed effort in that race.

[arbboy]

What a crazy ruling that Kitty's Light can't win that race in the stewards room.  If the winner is thrown out then clearly Kitty's light would have beaten the 2nd place horse who will be awarded the race.  Desperate for channing on BE who put it up as the free bet for the weekend at nearly half the price it went off on bf.  13/2 but sp was 11/1 on bf

[tikay]

Being AP, 10pm tonight, BBC Four.

This was made 6 years ago, chronicling the final season of A P McCoy.

Must be a repeat, but might be worth a watch. 




A feature documentary following AP McCoy – the greatest jump jockey of all time. As he passes his 40th birthday, an age beyond which most jockeys are unable to continue, AP contemplates his obsession with winning, the years of sacrifice that he has endured to become the champion he is, the chase for a 20th successive championship and then a future without racing.

Click to see full-size image.

[Doobs]

How many times?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/horse-racing/57049450

Seriously, Baffert should have been permanently banned long ago.  Shambles that he can get caught time and time again and can still have runners. 

I watched the Kentucky Derby and don't think they even mentioned that there was anything controversial about him winning it again. 

[Doobs]

Some astonishing stats on Baffert.  I knew that he had a lot of previous, but he has 5 medication violation in the last 13 months.  I read elsewhere that he had over 30 failed tests in total.  How many positive tests do the authorities need before stopping giving him another chance?   

Even if this was an accident, then you'd think he'd be a bit more careful if he had just one previous positive, and given this is the Kentucky Derby.   Incredibly, the horse and trainer have got the go ahead to run in the Preakness at the weekend. 

Oh and of course "cancel culture" is to blame.  Seriously.

https://mobile.twitter.com/existentialfish/status/1391763874295291913

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2021/may/11/bob-baffert-medina-spirit-kentucky-derby-drugs-test-steroid

[Marky147]

Racing over there sounds pretty scummy, by all accounts.

[tikay]

Sporting Life give their take on Baffert.


https://www.sportinglife.com/racing/news/us-racing-on-the-canvas/191716

[Doobs]

Sporting Life give their take on Baffert.


https://www.sportinglife.com/racing/news/us-racing-on-the-canvas/191716

Here is the New York Times putting the boot in, in 2019

https://tuesdayshorse.wordpress.com/2019/09/12/bob-baffert-justify-and-the-chemical-triple-crown/

Some of the other stuff there is astonishing to.  This one caught the eye. 

https://tuesdayshorse.wordpress.com/2013/04/11/baffert-horses-big-part-of-sudden-death-spike/


California racing saw a sharp increase last year in the number of fatalities due to cardiac failures. Eleven horses were reported as having died in this manner during fiscal year 2012 ...

Equally concerning is that a reported seven out of the 11—or 64%—of the horses that died from cardiac failure statewide had been stabled with leading Southern California trainer and Hall of Famer Bob Baffert

“It’s disturbing and unnatural,” said one trainer based at Betfair Hollywood Park, who spoke on the condition of anonymity about the number of sudden deaths he’s seen...  “I’ve been in training for 25 years and not had one..."



Medina Spirirt is favourite for the Preakness on Saturday.  Want to funk against him? The 2nd favourite is trained by... Bob Baffert.

[tikay]

Medina Spirit well beaten into 3rd.