SPORT 78 (1ST MARCH 2018)
Mar 1st, 2018 by admin
FEMALE JOCKEYS
Much talk in recent months about the ladies: lack of opportunities…. should be encouraged…. should be given weight allowances….. men are so unkind, etc.
I claim a miniscule right to hold and express an opinion, on the grounds that, as far back as 1995/6, I wrote an article on this very subject in an excellent but now defunct magazine called RIDING. Perhaps I killed it?
I based my case at that time on the following facts:
1. As regards flat racing.
Men are growing bigger and heavier on a daily basis, which means more and more problems keeping their weight low enough to function as jockeys. Women on the other hand are naturally the perfect weight to ride at flat race weights without doing any rationing of the calories.
There was also a widely-held belief among the ignorant that women lacked strength. It was madness: the strongest man that ever rode has never been free to deploy anything like his full strength while perched on a horse travelling at 35 mph, because the effort would cause him to lose his balance and hurl himself to the ground. Women on the other hand have got plenty of energy and drive at the level which is required to get the best (and straightest, and most properly regulated) out of a horse without living in constant danger of an involuntary descent to terra firma.
2. As regards steeplechasing.
I reviewed my time in the hunting field: invariably, if a hunt boasted half a dozen of the boldest and most skilful, half of them would be women. I thought about eventing: since the days of Prior-Palmer and BE FAIR women have been as bold and as brave and as skilful and as successful as men, all over the world. Bear in mind that in eventing the contestant is on his or her own, a test of the courage that far exceeds that which faces the jockey who enjoys the presence of competitors to help him keep his bottom lip from trembling.
Consequently I concluded that inevitably women were on the way towards whatever racing has to offer and nowadays we see signs indicating that the Promised Land is well within their reach.
Before I draw a line under the subject, it is important to touch upon a vital ingredient, so far unexplored. It has been suggested that men have been mean towards women in the matter of jockeying. Well, now….
Let us go back to square one: among the working classes (owners, breeders, trainers, jockeys and stable staff), the racing community is the best in the world, particularly the one that flourishes in Britain.
Over the centuries much of the moral authority within that community has become the province of the trainers. Why? Because every trainer is a rule-maker on his own patch, whether it be a vast empire or a tiny family unit. You cannot be a trainer without constantly coming up against situations which call for moral judgements, and in general terms the trainer tries to steer the group he leads along lines that are in the best interests of the people involved.
In this context, how have trainers reacted to female jockeys? In general they have chosen to be cautious. They know much about the riding skills of women because so many of them “ride out” for them and work in their yards. But they also know that flat racing is quite dangerous enough and jump racing is about the most dangerous sport in the world. They also know that young men are designed to take chances and not much else (until they learn sense) and that young women are designed for better things in every way and from the beginning.
In my opinion, the attitude of trainers has simply meant that they are reluctant to fast-track girls onto the racecourse (flat racing) unless the individual girl shows a) the talent, and b) a rather unfeminine (over-bold?) determination to choose that option in preference to the several safer alternatives open to her.
As for jumping, surely the average trainer would not consider it in the best interests of his female staff to give them a helping hand into a profession as perilous as that of a jump-jockey. So he buttons his lip and only offers a helping hand if the girl in question has loads of talent and an absolute determination to ignore commonsense and to take up the challenge, daunting though it is. I observe very little meanness on the part of trainers in this matter – mostly benevolence and good judgement.
So what do we have now? Girls everywhere on the flat, and doing well at all levels. Jumping? Much fewer girls, but the quality we are seeing is breathtaking. The nature of the human beast is such that one should not expect anything like equality in numbers: girls and boys have different priorities – simple as that. Quality is another matter. Women jockeys may be few and far between, but the talent they bring to the party means that they can, and should, take on the men on level terms. That is the way things are done in all other horse sports, as far as I know.
COMMERCIALS
I am much more concerned about bookmakers’ video commercials. Is it possible that a mild variety of mental illness has targeted the layers, as they call themselves? Sound a bit like chickens. For about two years now, perhaps longer, William Hill’s flagship inter-race drama has been only just visible through a heavy blanket of Stygian darkness. What is he playing at? What is his stage manager (I almost wrote funeral director) trying to tell the world on his behalf? For the life of me I cannot persuade myself that it is appropriate for something as cheerful as the Sport of Kings.
Then we have Stan James. When first I saw his contribution I was in no doubt that its run would close after one outing, but it keeps imitating the bad penny. You know the one (my paraphrase is rather cruel): “…. You can put a set of shoes on a horse…. and a bridle….. and a saddle….. and the cheek pieces and the martingale……you can even put a jockey on his back…. but none of that means a thing UNLESS YOU HAVE A BET.”
Have you ever heard such nonsense? It may be a fact that the humans (possibly subhumans) who man the terminals in the Stan James offices react in that way to the noble animal, but how the script can attribute those sentiments to the average punter I cannot begin to understand. The average punter invariably admires the thoroughbred and its entourage for many glorious qualities which have nothing whatsoever to do with the grubby transaction called betting….. Stan James, your message is a disgrace!
Still, all is not gloom and rubbish. Paddy Power’s troubadour sings beautifully, and singing a capella while making one’s way through a heaving mob of punters is no picnic. Not only does he make it look easy, he also manages to give full value to the immortal words “Get your mustard trousers out of my face!”
I look forward to the day when the Betway team recaptures the magic which made their Antarctic epic so inspiring. Perhaps that’s asking too much – it was that good! A second showing would be widely and wildly welcomed by the public. Particularly if the extension of winter continues.
FRENCHIE NICHOLSON
The Racing Post has done it again.
By Steve Dennis, published on Thursday, February 14, 2013, and recently republished.
I offer you just the first paragraph, because it is a gem.
“They were easy to spot. They were young men with short hair, wearing a suit and tie and well-polished shoes, they were quiet, polite, dutiful and keen. If these clues didn’t give them away there was a surer method – you’d usually find them in the winner’s enclosure.”
Another treasure from the back numbers of the RP that is worth a place in the best of all bedside books which will one day be published. It tells the tale of Frenchie Nicholson – his character, his career and the amazing Jockey Factory that he ran throughout his time as a trainer.
The story of Mr Nicholson is enough to convince anybody of the fact that the heart and soul of racing’s morality and integrity are alive and kicking (and safe) in the hands of the training profession. And he wasn’t alone: the academy which Ian Balding established at Kingsclere (now carried on at the same high standard by son Andrew) is another example of all-round education in the best sense of the word being offered to the young and green by a community’s “elders and wisers.”
To say any more would spoil the Nicholson story for you if you don’t know it. If that is your situation, you have something wonderful to look forward to.
RUGBY
The emergence of Scotland as a power in the land is a delight for one whose great -grandfather worked as a carpenter at 19 Chapel Street, Aberdeen. Even more delightful is the sort of rugby Scotland is playing: a running, passing, darting, stepping , subtle and tricky game, to which has been added superb scrummaging and formidable defence. This variety hasn’t been seen since the early seventies, when coach Carwyn James produced something similar like a magician with a particularly well-stocked top hat and not even the sniff of a rabbit. He took the 1971 Lions to New Zealand and they won the series (the only Lions ever to do that).
All credit to Scotland coach Gregor Townsend for resurrecting something so special. His side is very much a “work in progress” but it’s looking good. I have a feeling other sides will want a taste of rugby as it used to be, before several generations of demented publicists, managers, coaches and legislators reduced it to a ponderous pitched battle with the emphasis on something called the “breakdown” – a ghetto in which, time and again, grown men hurl themselves to the ground and try to damage each other.
CHELTENHAM beckons – if winter permits.
Could this be Putin’s devilish attempt to undermine the morale of the island race? We must stand firm.)
Best wishes,
Donec
THE BOOK
(BETWEEN THE STIRRUP AND THE GROUND by A. Simpson)
The news is mixed. On the one hand, those who have read it are in raptures and declare that it is without doubt the second best book ever written about horses. On the other hand, sales do not justify that sort of admiration. I know,I know…. it’s only a matter of time, quality always sells…. but it would be nice if the nest egg that an elderly bachelor needs as he faces an uncertain future would come to the rescue rather more expeditiously than hitherto.
How does the big-hearted sportsman do the decent thing? Save up £9.99 and then follow the lead: