For jockeys to give the leader such a large gap is negligent and I would almost go so far as to say that it is close to becoming dishonest, writes Joey Ramsden.
I have to say that I am no great exponent of the Kenilworth old course as I get sick and tired of horses sitting second and third making no effort whatsoever to chase down the leader.
One has absolutely no chance from the back if the second and third horses do not chase down the leader.
One needs to be competitive, especially in big races, and to sit twiddling one’s thumbs at the back of the field becomes an extremely tough pill to swallow.
Sometimes I wonder if there is not more competitiveness in an under 4 girls hockey team than there is in the jockey’s room.
It happens time and again on the old course, with the leader getting a soft lead and the runners stuck in behind having to suck their thumbs. There are days one can try and chase up and get round – but the leaders push and you cannot get in and sit three wide. They then take a strangle hold and your chance is gone.
It is sadly so open to corruption and dishonest racing that a blind man can see it.
Maybe one day someone will have the gumption to teach them a lesson but something needs to be done about it.
At the moment, it is allowed to carry on and the end result is that they will continue to get small fields on the old course.
Trainers are often blamed for not running their horses.
But this is one of the prime reasons for that: once the lead horse goes, they either give him a soft lead, or the second and third horses do not chase up or if they do, they go for a couple of hundred metres, leaving you caught three wide.
They then ease up and you are left looking like a complete buffoon. In all other jurisdictions, the jockeys are not allowed to do it so why we are allowed to do it here is beyond me? There is such a simple solution for it to be stopped and racing to be made more fair and competitive and the monkey business will no longer be an option.
What a week: full of highs and lows.
It kicked off with the CTS Lanzerac Sale, held at Durbanville. It was the usual superb show and was a beautiful day for the breeze ups. Most went very well and it is tough to pick one which is going better than the other.
Durbanville – great venue – just the wind!
Hopefully we have picked correctly this year.
Viewing day was quite tricky, with a nasty wind which brought up all the dust and as they say in the Classic, left us with a little smoke in our eyes. But we got the job done and I am hoping we have picked up some nice horses. The sale itself was all style: great food, great entertainment and a classy catalogue.
It really was a strong bunch this year and most buyers were richly rewarded. There were some beautiful pedigrees and really nice individuals. I think the end sales results proved that and certainly a couple of good horses will come out of it.
A good one certainly came out of it last year in the winner of this year’s sale race, Budapest.
I have to say I thought I was the only person who ever bought Lithuanian’s.
I bought five and did very well with two of them and not so well with the other three.
I did not think there were others around but Gavin van Zyl and his team found one and he certainly made monkeys of the rest of the field. No one else stood a chance and he was super impressive. Good luck to them on landing the big cash prize.
The rest of the day went fairly well for us.
The Stone Thrower was a bit disappointing but I think I was guilty of over training him for the big race. Time will tell.
My favourite Hard Day’s Night – he will get better
The love of my life, Hard Day’s Night, put in the sort of run I thought he would and won a really gutsy race.
Vaughan Marshall’s runner was maybe a bit unlucky but we did the donkey work and got the reward. Anton Marcus, as usual, was superb from the front.
This horse is still growing and hopefully will get even better and bigger and stronger. Apart from his name, I just love his nature and I am extremely lucky to train for his owners, Markus and Ingrid Jooste.
Great ride on the Captain from birthday boy, Corne Orffer
Sadly the Green Point Stakes did not go quite as well for us, with my taking the wrong option of dropping in.
Full marks to Brett Crawford, birthday boy Corne Orffer and the Nagels on Captain America winning a really smart race.
He did it in fine style from the front and nothing can be taken away from that. Well done, Corne, on giving him such a fine ride.
There is one course one cannot do any monkey business on and that is Turffontein.
Brutal Force holds off Zambezi River last year – we are looking for a big effort on Saturday
We have a couple of runners up at the Summer Cup. They have been there for some time and have prepped really well, apart from Disco Al’s minor hiccup. We have two top jockeys. Sadly, once again, the draw gods have gone against us but hopefully the fair Turffontien track will give us a bit of a chance but again we are reliant on a good pace.
While the drought desperately needs to be broken – and hopefully it has this week – I hope that rain does not spoil the parade and I hope we get the usual Turffontein surface. We also have our horse, the well-named Brutal Force, running in the Merchants and let’s hope he can frank the form of his last start.
Whatever happens, it is going to be a cracking week’s racing and I am really looking forward to it all.
Read the full story on www.joeyramsden.com
