Interesting Spot Play

[pandy]

Originally Posted by traynor

Absolutely. Good observation. It is just as evident with thoroughbreds as standardbreds. And just as completely missed by most bettors.

Julie Krone, who in my opinion was a master rider, was also a patient jockey with hands of gold. She would often get on a horse that had been tiring with jockeys who use hustling tactics...she would just drop back and let the horse relax into it's stride and wait, and wait, and wait...and then, boom, the horse would explode in the final eighth and get up on the wire. She woke up a lot of horses that didn't like to be rushed.

[traynor]

Originally Posted by pandy

Julie Krone, who in my opinion was a master rider, was also a patient jockey with hands of gold. She would often get on a horse that had been tiring with jockeys who use hustling tactics...she would just drop back and let the horse relax into it's stride and wait, and wait, and wait...and then, boom, the horse would explode in the final eighth and get up on the wire. She woke up a lot of horses that didn't like to be rushed.

You may recall that a similar (but much less skilled) riding style was used by Vicky Aragon. Worked great at Longacres, not so well at Santa Anita. There were many "creative excuses" for her lack of success in SoCal, but few who understood that it was a fundamental difference in the riding styles of the jockey colony at SA that she was unable to adjust to, rather than more complex matters. In blunt terms, she was too slow out of the gate. The "go as fast as you can as far as you can" riding style was something she was unable to adapt successfully.

You may also recall Beyer pointing out the substantial differences in riding style between the eastern and western tracks (I think it was in Beyer On Speed), and yet many "pace" handicappers literally ignore the effect of jockeys (and drivers) on the outcome of races.

Recognizing, evaluating (and factoring) the combined effects of jockey riding style, horse "pace preferences," and track characteristics was a major component of the proposed "pace analysis software" project mentioned elsewhere. Unfortunately, it morphed into some kind of "don't worry your pretty little head about such things, we'll let the computer do all the thinking for us" scenario and (to the best of my knowledge) flopped and expired. A pity.

[barn32]

Originally Posted by traynor

You may recall that a similar (but much less skilled) riding style was used by Vicky Aragon. Worked great at Longacres, not so well at Santa Anita. There were many "creative excuses" for her lack of success in SoCal, but few who understood that it was a fundamental difference in the riding styles of the jockey colony at SA that she was unable to adjust to, rather than more complex matters. In blunt terms, she was too slow out of the gate. The "go as fast as you can as far as you can" riding style was something she was unable to adapt successfully.

I made a lot of money betting on Vicky. She gave Russell Baze a run for his money when she first hit the NorCal circuit as well.

[traynor]

Originally Posted by barn32

I made a lot of money betting on Vicky. She gave Russell Baze a run for his money when she first hit the NorCal circuit as well.

So did I. It was unfortunate that many seemed willing to buy into the "whip in the face" incident as the defining characteristic of her riding career. Simple people are often satisfied with simple explanations to very complex situations.

[pandy]

What year was that? I can't remember Vicky, but I didn't start following So. Cal until the late 90's.

What made Krone's success even more remarkable, she successfully transferred from NY to So. Cal, did so after taking off a few years due to her back injuries, and consistently won from off the pace despite the speed nature of the racing there. Most people thought that she would not be successful because she was not a speed rider. But she was damn good on the lead when she had a horse that wanted to race that way.

Another female jockey that I did good with was Karen Roger's in New York. She would get on horses that were in dismal form and win from off the pace. She brought in quite a few longshots that paid over $50, plus many others.

[traynor]

Originally Posted by pandy

What year was that? I can't remember Vicky, but I didn't start following So. Cal until the late 90's.

What made Krone's success even more remarkable, she successfully transferred from NY to So. Cal, did so after taking off a few years due to her back injuries, and consistently won from off the pace despite the speed nature of the racing there. Most people thought that she would not be successful because she was not a speed rider. But she was damn good on the lead when she had a horse that wanted to race that way.

Another female jockey that I did good with was Karen Roger's in New York. She would get on horses that were in dismal form and win from off the pace. She brought in quite a few longshots that paid over $50, plus many others.

http://articles.latimes.com/1986-12-..._1_santa-anita