POV: The Two Factors (Daniel Harrold)

In our DAILY column POV – Racing Post Bloodstock writer Daniel Harrold on the two factors separating the best from the rest when it comes to jockeys….

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Jockeys and jockey rides often divide opinion and will continue to do so. It’s fair to say that most people – barring having Ryan Moore at number 1 – would conjure up different lists to each other if asked for the best 10 or 15 jockeys in the UK and Ireland currently.

My opinion on what separates the top riders from the good ones comes in two separate factors. The first is their ability to see a race develop as it is happening. Moore is a perfect example of this at this current moment, and Dettori is the best I have seen before him in my lifetime at this particular skill. And for me, it is just that, a skill. Just as skilful as actually being able to ride itself. Often riders can have pre-set plans or tactics before a race, and that is absolutely fine…if they pay off. It would be hard to argue that all rides go to plan, in fact I’d hazard a guess that plenty of them don’t – even if they’re winning rides.

How many times do we see jockeys say things such as ‘it didn’t really go as planned’ or ‘we had to resort to plan B (or even C)’. The best rides in the business in my opinion take a race for how it is, and the best trainers often let their riders just ride a race how they see it. Obviously, some horses as just habitual front-runners or come-from-behind merchants and that is fine, but most horses can really win whether they are in first place after a furlong or last place if the race goes the right way for them. Riding a race how it rides so to speak is not an easy thing to do, and I think that is one of two factors that separates the top from the good.

My second factor is not resorting to the whip until is it actually needed. Too many riders, both in the UK and Ireland and abroad, seem very happy to just go for the whip as soon as they apply pressure to a horse. Again, in my opinion, the best riders seem to gradually build their horse into a race without panicking before then going for the pro cush to ask for maximum effort. Surely keeping a horse balanced and going forward at a rate of knots is better than pushing along and then instantly resorting to the whip? I mean, horses are quick, but they’re not NASA rockets! A more gradual approach in riding and getting a horse into something like top gear before then using the whip seems to get far better results, and again Moore is an absolute specialist at doing this. Of course, people will and can disagree with me, but those two factors would be the main things for me that keeps the top 5 or 6 away from the chasing pack.

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