GIDDY UP! Stuff about horse racing.
For years, we’ve sat and wondered why and what for- the futility of racing radio personalities asking jockeys and trainers about the chances of their rides and runners.
Firstly, in many racing jurisdictions, jockeys aren’t allowed to tip. Going on television and talking up the chances of their rides with unbridled honesty could constitute “tipping”. Plus owners wanting odds on their runners wouldn’t like to see these come crashing down. So, what does one get? “We should be right there when whips are cracking.” “Anything the horse does today will improve him for the future.” Or, “The distance is good albeit slightly longer would be better.” Yes, say something without saying anything.
The only jockey we know when interviewed and asked whether this and that ride of his could win would answer with great confidence and a disarming smile was Joao Moreira. “Why not?” he would answer. We’ve always said that with English not being his mother tongue, the superstar Brazilian jockey make it work for him. Answer a question with a baffling question of his own: “Why not?” Brilliant!
Then there’s Lady GaiGai who gives every one of her runners a fabulously and wunderbar winning chance, even those squibs who lead and then tail off, or those others that don’t make the grade, but still end up as expensive purchases by The Gullibles in Hong Kong and whose careers are perhaps good for a couple of runs before hitting a brick wall and quietly shipped off to somewhere like Perth. Remember Divine Calling? It won once over there for trainer Fred Kersley only to never be heard again.
So, asking trainers like Chris Waller or Darren Weir or David Hayes about the chances of their runners? Why bother? They might throw you a $1.50 chance as their best for the day, but why share family secrets?
Jockey Craig Williams might blog about the chances of his upcoming rides and talk and talk and talk about them when being interviewed, but what’s he really saying? Who knows? Often it’s a rapid onslaught of words that are gibberish.
So when TAB Radio’s effusive Gareth Hall did the best he could with his persuasive powers to try and get something out of co-trainer Ben Hayes for listeners’ “Friday fill up” about the chances of the stable’s runners at Geelong last Friday, he was reluctantly offered one-and-half possible winning chances. Possible. The team of Hayes Hayes and Dabernig trained five winners that day. Actually, the first five winners on the eight race card.
The sting in this tail? Ask and Ye shall receive. But receive exactly what? It’s as stupid as dear old “Nards” asking a supposedly professional tipster in somewhere like Queensland for their quaddie selections for the day and sometimes given as many as five runners for each of the four legs for 12 percent… and then having even this buffet of choices crash and burn at the first hurdle.
WINNING!
Still on the subject of winning, and having been at The Stokehouse or The Emerald in Melbourne and listened to all those with “mail” and “form” for the races at Caulfield or Flemington or Moonee Valley, we have always wondered to ourselves, Why? Why when the racing is so competitive and the odds of winning are invariably very very slim?
Think of the “good things” at Flemington on Saturday that came undone. Same with the races at Rosehill.
Think of the loss of $1.45 hot pot EF Troop at Doomben. Many were quite rightly unhappy with the ride of Brad Stewart and the trainer should shoulder some of the blame, but someone REALLY wasn’t happy. And what colourful language to enhance the image of horse racing and show the world the type of “fan” it attracts.
WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK WAS THAT EF TROOP WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCKING FUCK ME YOU STUPID FUCKING CUNTS FUCK YOU BRAD STEWART YOU STUPID FUCKING FUCK GET THAT CUNT OFF THIS FUCKING HORSE FUCK OFF EVERYONE FUCK — Greg Larkins (@Greg_Larkins) August 11, 2018
Us? We just want to relax, win, be around nice people and have almost always followed the rides of Jamie Kah, Jeff Lloyd and Kyra Yuill, below, whenever riding at Broome.
We hear you: Who? Where? History has proven that when there’s racing at Broome, follow the female riders, led by Kyra Yuill. They deliver. Plus racing in beautiful Broome puts the fun back in horse racing without the hype and just plain awfulness of Saturday’s Shergar Cup.
Meanwhile, with six races at Carnavon on Saturday, we followed another of our favourites: Renee “Bam Bam” Forrest. She rode a treble.
Being huge fans of racing in WA, we also looked at the racing in Belmont. But noticing a shocking track bias that favoured those right on the pace, we watched like Chauncey Gardner as opposed to getting involved unless having a spare $200,000 to place on $1.40 chance Red Army ridden to victory by Glenn Smith.
Smith, Patrick Carberry, Tayla Stone and Mitchell Pateman are the riders we follow when the racing is at Belmont, Bunbury or Ascot. What about “The Wizard”- William Pike?
With his remarkable strike rate and probably in line for sainthood in Perth, only a fool would ignore any of his rides. But having your hard earned money on a short priced favourite owned by Bob Peters, trained by Grant and Alana Williams and ridden by Pike can become a harrowing experience.
The big spending Bob Peters seems to play a shrewd handicapping game- win, but by only just. And so one watches with heart in mouth as The Wizard waits and waits and waits for the Red Seas to part on one of the owner’s runners, or looks for the bias of “the cutaway” before arriving just in time.
Of course, sometimes his timing is off and short priced favourites don’t arrive in time.
Pike might have had some success at Belmont on Saturday, but with him very rarely leading on his rides, we only watched. We preferred the post race interviews by Brittany Taylor and winning by backing the treble by “Bam Bam”.
Comments