On Jockeys

[Derek2U]

2 races this weekend showed me that Jockeys should be openly
criticized from time to time: The Florida Derby & The Toboggan.

What were Chavez & Velasquez thinking ... setting fractions,
prompting suicidal paces. I think the FL Derby proves little
about the Kentucky Derby.

And Leczano on Multiple Choice was so very wrong: didn't he
even see the previous three 7f races: NO Winner on the Front
End ... All stalked the pace setter then blew by them.
Leczano challenges the rail speedster from the get-go, then
of coarse had no energy left to fend off Affirmed Success &
the Eventual place horse.

[ranchwest]

The only way to tell if a jockey made errors is to see how long the jockey keeps the mount on that horse. If he keeps the mount, he knew what he was doing.

[Dick Schmidt]

Charlie Wittingham (never one to mince words) said about jockeys: "Those damn size-3 hats don't have enough brains to remember riding instructions. All they know is hang on and go fast." And remember, Charlie was talking about the cream of the crop, riders like Shoemaker and McCarron. Sometimes you have to agree with him.

Dick

[JimH]

Derek,

The only thing Velazquez did wrong was be aboard a horse (Nokoma) who couldn't close into a hot pace which was supposedly set up for him. The horse is 97 percent of the race and the jockey 3 percent and on this day the horse wasn't up to the task.

Chavez went out fast because Booklet is a horse who absolutely needs to lead to have any shot. He is the second coming of Songandaprayer (last year's FOY winner who fell apart in the KY Derby after setting the fastest opening 3/4 mile split in the history of the race). He will suffer the same fate as Songandaprayer in the Derby because he's going to see something called pace pressure. Guidry sent his horse (Smooth Jazz) out UNDER INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE TRAINER and softened up Booklet but unfortunately Nokoma didn't pick it up. It was done by design and I saw the duel coming long before the horses went into the gate.

And Lezcano in the Toboggan. Remember, he's a bugboy riding for the big money with no apprentice allowance. His inexperience showed and he lost. Did you think Multiple Choice was the class of the field and just got a bad ride? (I think he was 12/1 in a six horse field for a reason.) How often do bug riders win graded stakes? Who was the last one, Charleen Hunt in the 2000 Hooper at Calder? They never are on the best horse in those situations, and then their lack of big-race experience comes into play as well.

[Dave Schwartz]

I once spoke with a jockey agent who said that the most that can be expected of a top jockey was that he did not screw up the ride. Lesser riders get their horses into trouble... better ones avoid it.

Dave

[Observer]

I think people too easily criticize the jockeys. Horses aren't like cars. You can't just step on the gas when it's time to go and expect the horse to go with they type of acceleration you desire. At the same time, I think lesser jockeys are criticized much more heavily and unjustly than bigger named riders. More times than not, if a horse ridden by a guy like Bailey fails, it's the horse's fault. Had it been some other rider on the horse with the very same trip and outcome, everyone is ready to point to every little thing that could possibly have been the rider's fault.

In the Toboggan, when the gates opened, I personally felt no one was trying to go for the lead, which was very strange. Run Kush Run is a confirmed speed ball, and he didn't spring out of the gate on the lead, as he typically does. Instead, the gate sprung open, and the field came out in a pack, and stayed that way for a lot longer than I would have expected with a horse like Run Kush Run in the field.

Every rider will make mistakes, some more than others. Blaming Lezcano for Multiple Choice's finish in that field is unfair. This kid can ride, and many trainers on the NYRA circuit have publically said so, including Iwinski. As an apprentice, Lezcano won the Inner Track leading rider title. It had been a long time since an apprentice had won any riding title on the NYRA circuit, and Lezcano did this with guys like Migliore and Davis staying in town this winter. He also beat out Castellano, Bridgmohan and Luzzi, all riders who I think are underrated who had some sensational moments on the Inner track this winter. He also defeated Gryder, who had dominated the Inner track previously.

Lezcano is due to lose the bug very soon, but does have some days coming to him because of suspensions. When he is back to riding without the bug, will that all of a sudden make him a better rider because he is no longer an apprentice?