Why Anton Marcus Is The Best Jock

I am not talking country populations

How many racetracks and jockeys do they have in the UK and Aus compared with SA?

Too many to count, maybe the powers know more than anyone else hence the closure of Bloem,Milnerton Newmarket and Gosforth Park. That should not be your excuse Scotia. Sri Lanka won the cricket world Cup, Wimbledon won the FA Cup, You dont have to be big to be good.

OK C and C, SA don't produce world class jocks, now let me watch Celtic trying to score a goal wearing shocking strips

Top Ten jocks in SA would compete in any country in the world,to say there is only 2 world class jockeys is maybe true,but how many true world class Jockeys can you name?

The only Jockey from the UK that regulary wins on the World stage is Frankie Dettori and some don`t rate him "great"

So who are these world class jockeys?

I can only think of Champions who win regular with great ammo.

Ireland= Murtagh
UK=Moore
France =Soumillion
South Africa= Marcus

You cannot compare SA riders with oversea riders. SA riders do not ride 7 days a week for 40 weeks of the year. Some riders ride in 16 races a day during the season. Hibs, I am a South African and we tend to be a bit like the English when it comes to talking up our boys. Dont get me wrong I would love the SA riders to be the best and if they were then I would be shouting it from the roof tops.

agree with chips south africans generally like to talk their heroes up but please boys besides michael roberts we have not produced another world class rider on the biggest stage of all..our tracks are very similiar we have false rails and the bulk of our top riders have left our shores..the depth of our jocks today compared to years gone by is pathetic..

I think SA has produced world class riders Dougie Whyte, Basil Marcus,Anton,Felix Manne,Muis,Guv,Striker the list in my opinion is pretty long. The debate of who is/was best is always difficult. For me the greatest jockey EVER to ride in SA was Jimmy Anderson, Dougie is a good 2nd to Jimmy and Bartie a close 3rd. Disasters like Henneman and other "issues" have deprived us of even more world class jocks (warren bailie /laurence riley,rooies fourie) BUT and this is a BIG but

None of them compare to the following,
Steve Cauthen
Laffite Pincay
Cash Ashmussen
Gary Stevens
Angel Cordero

and for me what seperates them from our boys and the european boys is the

"clock in the head" they all ride to time and fractions. Evident when they ALL rode out of their comfort zones they quickly rode the locals to sleep. Balance/poise and timming are so important and these guys had it all.

Cauthens "hands" are widely regarded amongst his peers as the best ever and for me the "forums big mouth" he is the best i ever saw.

The depth today might be very thin but I think its difficult to compare jocks unless they compete against each other.

What I will say is our jocks have it very easy compared to the UK boys. The UK jocks can sometimes travel far and wide to 3 meetings a day, the tracks are all very different as well as the racing being far more competitive.

In respect of Shezi his UK opportunities were fairly limited and I think he did pretty well from few rides he had. Lets not forget Shezi has been clocking up the airmiles in the last couple of years with a host of graded wins around the world.

Recently Lloyd, Schoefield and Weichong have performed with credit overseas, even Keegan Latham is making a name for himself in Ireland.

I think records speak for themselves and Basil, Dougie, Felix and Muis have already proved themselves on the international stage as top class performers.

South Africa is a drop in the ocean on the world racing stage and I would say our jocks have done relatively well on their travels. Having watched plenty international racing I feel Anton would not be out of place competing anywhere in the world.

For me Lester Piggott was the best, he was a master, won here on the Malster and his win on Royal Academy after his release from jail in the States was a moment to savour, not forgetting his Derby wins, my best was on Roberto

kieron fallon the best for me

I suppose world class would be defined as having consistently done well under very different conditions around the world? However, everyone has their own favourites but I would say that with his skill and drive to excel Anton would make it anywhere.

I like jocks who dont drop their whips, remember to wear their cap, and smile in the photo when the horse wins.