UK jockeys

I know that The UK has always produced a lot of top jocks .........................but some of the lesser lights are really poor..........race after race you see them on fancied horses run 3/4 wide sometimes one or two or more turns..........they obviously leave school before any maths lessons but somebody should force them to watch athletics and show them the effect of outside lanes..........the other night I watched an odds on horse beaten a neck having run at least 40/50 metres further than the winner...........I bet very little on their racing but today the 3rd leg of the Quick-mix jackpot the favourite did 2 laps,3 horses wide at Southwell........absolutely no chance!
Horses get caught wide here as well but the difference I see is that a lot of the UK jocks seem to be quite happy out there!

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BEma4-yCMAAS7pi.jpg:large

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Rob, sure you know more than me and DTF for sure can almost certainly give you a more accurate assessment but, as with some SA courses, the inside draw at some UK venues, particularly sprints on the all-weather, if memory serves me right, is vitally important. If you don't have that draw then you need to try and race right up there anyway, sitting at the back and hoping to win coming off the final bend is, in most cases, pointless. Thus, better to put the horse in a position where it has a chance, however remote given the extra distance travelled, than leave it with no chance at all. A criticism I often have of SA jocks is that they seem content to sit at the back and come far too late, the race is already over by the time they start running. Jamie Spencer for example is one often criticised in the UK for doing exactly that. Genuinely not being bias but personally (especially as many of the top jocks in UK racing are Irish anyway lol) I would rather they give the horse a glimmer of hope if good enough than say, fark it, I've already lost.

Englander,I realise that its not always easy,but today ,that horse was pulling a bit and would have happily gone round and got position but he was been restrained,.........but not enough to tuck in............it just seemed better to do one or the other!.........I just get the impression that they choose to be there sometimes?

if you play uk racing often enough you will know which jockeys to brass on favs.you will know which jocks you can trust on favs esp wen they riding for there own stables.in fact you can back certain jocks with confidence and make plenty of money without any info,just follow the money and you will be a winner,unless its a jock with a bad reputation like mr spencer who loses more often than not on short priced favs,but always brings home the longer shots for the pots.imo with uk racing the punter has a decent chance,unlike local racing where anything goes and form means absolutely nothing.

In my humble opinion I think the UK jocks are by and large excellent riders, especially considering the conditions in which they have to race.I personally have more confidence overall with the UK jockeys and MUCH more confidence and reward following form with regard to UK flat racing, especially the A/W tracks. I packed up form study for local racing some time ago. Found it a waste of time.

Rog Faux, I hate seeing horses wide. A mate of mine is a civil engineer specialising in roads. He took the Clairwood 1450m turn and worked out that in comparison to a horse on the fence, a horse running with one horse between them will run 28m+ some change extra. Cannot remember the exact distance but it shows exactly what you are saying.

Craig,I read an article that somewhere in the US they used some sort of laser measuring device and they were able to measure the distances that various horses(depending on their racing position)covered .........as you say,wide horses covered a lot more ground!!!! and jocks should perhaps be made more aware of it's effect

I listened to USO...and they said...not confident on the favourite and would advise to play wide...

Rob

I watch US racing everynight. Wide can be a factor but sometimes the "rail" is so dead it pays you to race wide. This also happens at southwell, very very seldom do you see horses winning on the rail. The straight races are always won nearside to middle.

Then there is the "slingshot" theory. With short straights in the USA it pays "BIG " time to slingshot into the straight round the outside. SA trainser HATE jockeys making their runs round a bend.......its just NOT the done thing. BUT in the USA jockeys actually ride shorter on 1 side to allow for all this manoevering round the bend.

Andrew Fortune once rode a race round a bend and slung shot into the straight on July day, i cant remember what horse it was but it was for Michael Roberts (not muis) it was the same year barellen ran 3rd in the July. I remember fortune getting slated by roberts for "possibly " damaging the horse by making his run round the bend.
back to southwell, i reckon there is a 5 length difference between "inside" and middle. which is about m???


"Draw Bias Summary for Southwell

In races run around the bend (6f+) low drawn runners are at a big disadvantage. Look at laying fancied runners in stall 1.
High numbers do well now where previously it was disadvantageous to be drawn high. Some media pundits, punters, and draw bias information in general (old books) have not yet realised that since the resurfacing this is now not the case.
Over 5f a distinct draw bias advantage is apparent with low drawn runners. Stalls 1 and 2 have won a third of all 10+ runner races since the resurfacing.
"
www.flatstats.co.uk/all_weather_racing_draw_biases.html

Easy,I know what you are saying (Muis Roberts was first to exploit the slingshot theory, with great success, when they cambered the turn at Scottsville many years ago) but there is a big difference between cambered turns and others.(it appears visually that a number of USA tracks have slight camber on the turns??
I don't think it can ever be better to do 2 circuits,of any course,3 horses wide,though and I worry that the extent of the extra ground covered is underestimated by some!