The Pat Smullen Column: View From The Other Side

[Wandering Eyes]

It was a bit of a surreal week for me at Royal Ascot as regards seeing it from the other side of the fence, but I definitely enjoyed my three days at the Royal meeting and was fortunate to see some brilliant racing and some unbelievable performances on the racecourse.

I’d like to reflect on a good week for a number of jockeys and of course I have to start with Frankie Dettori. Every day was quite remarkable for him. His feel for the track and his knowledge of the place is second to none. We all know that he rises to the occasion but over the last week I think he took it to a new level and it was spectacular to watch. To stand in the stands and watch him after he won the Gold Cup on Stradivarius (Ire) and to see how good he is for the sport was incredible. The way he created an atmosphere and got the crowd growing was a real ‘hair standing up on the back of your neck’ moment. Not many jockeys can create that on the racetrack and I think it’s quite remarkable what Frankie is doing at the moment for jockeyship and for racing.

Frankie was always a flamboyant character but we can’t ignore the fact that he has made mistakes in the past and was on the brink of maybe even retiring when his popularity wasn’t as high as it is at the moment. I’m sure he regrets what happened, as really he should be the ultimate role model for all young riders coming along. It’s a mark of the man he is to be able to rebuild what was an amazing career that went through a dip and has now reached new heights. We can all take from that how it important it is never to give up and that we should keep on striving for success at the highest level. Frankie has certainly done that. From a jockey’s perspective, I thought it was remarkable to see him ride at that level throughout the week. I must admit it really did give me a lot of pleasure to be able to watch him.

Frankie has everything: he’s tactically aware, he has that great agility and he’s so flexible and smooth on a horse. He has a mixture of style and strength which is everything you need in a jockey. If you were to create a prototype of a jockey it would be Frankie Dettori. More than that, he brings that bit of magic to the day, and winning four races on Ladies’ Day, including the Ascot Gold Cup, well it just doesn’t get much better than that. When he’s gone from the sport he will leave a huge void because his combination of ability and showmanship is something that will only come along in one lifetime. I don’t see anyone with a similar personality coming along behind him.

I went into the jockeys’ room to see say hello to everybody after the St James’s Palace Stakes when Too Darn Hot (GB) got beaten and I saw the other side of Frankie in there then which not everybody sees. His lip was down and he was pretty dejected. Frankie is like all jockeys in that he wants to win every race, especially at the highest level, and I’m sure he was very hopeful of Too Darn Hot winning. He’s not always the happy-go-lucky fellow that we see on the racetrack and when things aren’t going well he has his off days, but no jockeys like to lose, and Frankie is no different in that respect.

Big Hopes For Danny
Another jockey who it was great to see in the spotlight at Ascot is Danny Tudhope. He is a beautiful rider, very consistent and patient. I think those qualities came to the fore during the week when there were a lot of races with pace on and the track was a bit slower than it would normally be at Ascot. His patience paid off on three or four occasions when he just held onto his horse and produced him to get up at the right time to win.

Danny is a very tough rider and he has a difficult time in controlling his weight. I must admit that while it is great to see Oisin Murphy fighting it out with Silvestre de Sousa, personally I would like to see Danny become champion jockey for the work that he puts in and the effort that people don’t see behind the scenes of how hard he has to work to maintain his weight. It would be a huge achievement for him to become champion jockey and he’s there with every chance in the top five at the moment. He’s not just getting a lot of quality rides but he’s getting a lot of winners on a regular basis for good trainers and it would be fitting for him to win the title.

Bright Young Talent
We touched on the up-and-coming talent of David Egan in this column earlier in the year and it was great to see him have his first Royal Ascot winner in the Albany Stakes for Roger Varian. Full marks to Roger for being so supportive of a young jockey and giving him a huge opportunity—that’s what every young rider needs at this stage of his career especially after finishing his apprenticeship and losing his claim. Roger is putting him firmly on the right path to becoming a fully-fledged jockey, and what more can David do than take those opportunities and win on a short-price favourite at Royal Ascot? The future looks very bright for him.

I thought his interview after the race was excellent as well. He wasn’t afraid to show the emotion of what it meant to him. Riding a Royal Ascot winner is a huge thing in any rider’s career, so to get it so young and so early was great for him. This is very much a building year for David to set himself up for what will hopefully be a long and fruitful career.

He has just what you need in a young rider: he’s media-savvy and has a little bit of an aura about him. I think the press will take to that and that’s very helpful in any jockey’s career to have the press on your side. But more importantly than anything else, he has the talent on horseback and that was very evident in the polished ride that he gave Daahyeh (GB).

Turning To Another Role Model
Another jockey to break new ground was Hayley Turner in winning the Sandringham. I thought she gave the filly an excellent ride but unfortunately so much attention was brought to the whip issue again, which I don’t like to see. I’ve watched the race replay and it didn’t look offensive in any way. It was just unfortunate that she went over the limit—and it happened on a few occasions with other jockeys last week—but overall it was a very good week’s racing for the general public to watch.

It was great for Hayley to become only the second woman to ride a winner at Royal Ascot 32 years after Gay Kelleway made history. What Hayley had done prior to Ascot has been amazing for inspiring young women coming into the sport, showing that it’s possible to get to the highest level and win Group 1 races and be incredibly competitive. And now again she has shown them that it can be done by winning at Royal Ascot. It’s vitally important the role she has played in the sport.

I’m so glad she came back from retirement. Just as Frankie has been a role model, Hayley has done the same for young girls and has encouraged more and more of them to come into racing and into the profession of being a jockey, which is incredibly important. The hard work she puts in to her riding paid off.  She saw that Charlie Fellowes’s stable was getting bigger, and when he moved into Luca Cumani’s old yard she rang up and asked if she could go in to ride out. That was only two weeks before Ascot, and as a result of that phone call she now has a Royal Ascot winner. It just proves that hard work pays off.

 

 

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