The Jockey Thread

[mowgli77]

We often get threads discussing certain jockeys that have given a horse a particularly good or bad ride and there is sometimes discussion around jockeys in form, jockeys that do well at certain tracks and ones to follow or ones to avoid. I thought it might be an idea to have a specific thread to discuss jockeys performances and rather than it just be punters slagging off jockeys and talking through their pockets like you may find elsewhere lets try concentrate on the good rides mainly and make a note of up and coming jockeys that look like stars of the future. One to Follow - Declan Cannon I've been to Pontefract today and came away mightily impressed with this young lad. He is a 5lb claimer and if he carries on like he has today he'll have no problem riding out his claim. He had clearly done his homework and studied the Pontefract course, you start to turn left not long after the 2f pole and ideally need to be front rank in a prominent position as the finish is really stiff and uphill and horses often struggle to quicken up that hill and make up ground on those that have already kicked for home. If you have Racing UK or have registered on their site have a look at Declan's rides on Follow The Flag, Sharakti and Tamarind Hill, especially the last two mentioned. He gets his horse to the front and kicks for home round the bend on each of the rides, gets done in a photo on Sharakti after looking like he'd got the win after cheekily kicking early on and then managed to get up for a win on Tamarind Hill, bearing in mind this horse had 1 win from 26 races before today. I was quite unaware of him until today but will keep a close eye on him from now on and see if he goes on from here. Ponty can be a tough track to win at but he showed he is a match for the top jockeys even if he does get to claim 5lb. Bearing in mind it can be hard to come past horses late on at Ponty I feel the late run of Rhyton is worth noting, clearly come on loads from the last run and delievered with a late drive from Richie Mullen for Stoute and kept the horse working up to the line for a photo finish victory. Confident ride and looked as though he had left it too late but that horse will go on to bigger and better races. DAVID PROBERT Saw this young lad land a quick 63-1 double at York on Primo Lady and Hanoverian Baron and was impressed with him on the day. (http://www.racingpost.com/horses/jockey_home.sd?jockey_id=86013) Not in great form of late but has 47 winners on the board so far and 46 second places so not doing too badly. Tylicki was his apprentice rival and although currently out injured he only has 26 winners in 2010 so Probert is doing well considering he has ridden out his claim. Will be interesting to see how he does in some of the lesser contests, he had a poor Ascot and his last winner was on 11th June but too early to write him off, only a matter of time before he starts riding the winners again. RIDE OF THE DAY I would have to put my old hero Kieren Fallon down as ride of the day on Markington. It was last, at the back of the field and the front runners were starting to leave him with a fair bit of ground to make up. Less experienced jockeys might have panicked but he started to get to work on the horse and had it niggled along very early while other jockeys were still to get to work on their mounts. He came past every horse in the field to have a prominent position and kicked on for the win. Kieren Fallon at his best on this horse. I thought Theola was a massive danger as it just cruised up on the bridle and then found absolutely nothing and went backwards. Who are your jockeys in form (quite obviously Ryan Moore) and who are your jockeys to follow at the current time? What do you think of Amy Ryan as an apprentice?

[fintron]

Re: The Jockey Thread Keiren Fox and Declan Cannon are the best apprentices riding at the minute IMO and I expect both to have ridden out there claims very soon. Barry McHugh can't be far off either, he rode a worldie on Just Lille up in Scotland somewhere the other week and seems to have been stuck on 3 lbs for ages. John Fahy also showed plenty of promise before disappearing for a while not noticed him much since. Ryan Powell also caught my eye last season. I read somewhere he was set to go to the US over the winter to gain more experience, so he is another I'm gonna look out for this season, although havent seen him much so far.