The Pat Smullen Column: Trainer-Jockey Relationship So Important

[Wandering Eyes]

It’s becoming a habit that every week we are speaking about John Gosden and Frankie Dettori. Frankie gave us a masterclass of a ride on Star Catcher (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) in the Oaks at the Curragh on Saturday; it was poetry in motion to watch. While Frankie may well have been on the best filly, I had a feeling very early in the race that it was over. He just completely controlled the race from the moment he left the stalls. He appeared as anxious as any of the others to get a lead but when that didn’t work out Frankie went to Plan B straight away and took control of the race.

This is a huge factor when it comes to a stable jockey’s position, which Frankie effectively has at John Gosden’s yard. When you have a great understanding and trust between jockey and trainer that can make a real difference on the big occasion and I thought it was very evident that Frankie very much reverted to Plan B, and Plan B won the race.

In day-to-day races it is maybe not quite so important and you can play around with your tactics a bit more, but on the bigger days you don’t necessarily want to be the one who is cutting out the running. However, if you are on the best horse and you have the judgement to ride the race as you like, then it is the best place to be. It was very apparent on Saturday that being in front, controlling the race, was the right thing to do and in my opinion it was the deciding factor.  The ride was superb and it is a pleasure to watch a jockey at the peak of his powers at the age of 48.

In my days as stable jockey to Dermot Weld, he was always very happy for me to go to the front on most horses if I felt that was the right thing to do. I think we won a lot of races doing that which we may not have won otherwise, but the majority of trainers would prefer the horses to get a lead in a race. At the result of that, it ties riders down to instructions and you can’t switch to Plan B as easily as you might want. That’s where it makes a difference in being an appointed stable jockey and having the confidence to go and do what you feel is right.

The stable jockey position seems to be dying out and jockey retainers appear now to be more owner-orientated. Of course it’s the owner’s choice as to who rides their horses, but when you look at the relationship between Frankie and John you can see it’s very strong, and as a result of the confidence that they have in each other at the moment it is making a difference when it comes to winning big races. When you have a trainer saying to you, as John Gosden did to Frankie ‘Here’s a blank canvas, go out and paint your own picture’, that gives you so much confidence and that has to be a huge factor in the jockey then going out and doing the right thing.

Time Is Of The Essence
This year’s Oaks and Derby show that it’s time now to have sectional timing brought in on Irish racecourses. It would have been very interesting, both for spectators and punters, to see what the sectional times were in both races, which saw two very good rides from the front. The technology is available and we have to move forward. We really should have that information given to us throughout the racing day. There’s no better judge of pace than Frankie Dettori and it would have been great to be able to analyse, furlong for furlong, just how he actually controlled the race.

We only have to look back at the July Cup and Aidan O’Brien’s interview afterwards, in which he was able to tell us that Ten Sovereigns was able to do :11 seconds per furlong for four furlongs. That information is clearly crucial to him as a trainer and it’s common sense to have that sort of information more widely available.

The pace of races wins races. Like anything in life, as a jockey you can learn about pace but it is very much intuitive. I know Frankie Dettori wouldn’t have been counting every second in his mind as he went through each furlong at the Curragh. That was all done on natural feel and him dictating the race to suit his filly.

Yes, of course you can educate yourself and sharpen yourself up by going out to America to ride against the clock on the track, and that’s all very helpful, but if you don’t actually have that feel for pace I don’t think you can ever learn to be really good at it.

An important part of it is getting your horse to relax and that’s where it comes down that old saying of having good hands. Frankie Dettori has beautiful hands, as does Ryan Moore, and that’s the difference. If you look back to the days of Lester Piggott, you never saw horses running keen with Lester. If you’ve got good hands the horses will relax and if a horse is relaxed, he will do everything right, i.e. breathing and conserving energy.

On Song
Polished Gem (Ire) (Danehill) has been a super broodmare for Moyglare Stud and it was pleasing to see her daughter Search For A Song (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) run a promising race in the Oaks to finish fourth.

After a furlong into the race, while it was great to watch Frankie ride it was frustrating if you had an interest in any other horse in the race because there was just that awful feeling that Frankie was in charge.

Search For A Song long ran a beautiful race, however. She was just a little bit keen early on but it was only the third start of her life and once she relaxes and starts to breathe properly I think there’s a huge race in her. It was very encouraging the way she ran to the line and nearly got up for third. Everybody was very pleased with the run and there’s a lot to look forward to with the filly in the future.

Making A Comeback – For One Day Only!
I’m really looking forward to being back in competitive action later this year on the Curragh in a charity race that I’m organising against some former top-class jockeys during the Longines Irish Champions Weekend. I was very keen to do something to raise awareness and to give something back to the carers and the people who have looked after me over the last 15 months throughout my illness.

I’ve been back riding out and the Longines Irish Champions Weekend committee has given me a great opportunity and a platform over the two best days of racing in Ireland. I can’t wait to get back to ride at the fabulous new facility that is the Curragh, even though it is just for one final time. The most important thing is to raise some much-needed funds for Cancer Trials Ireland and there’s also the Longines Irish Champions Weekend dinner on the Saturday night at the Shelbourne hotel in Dublin. That takes place every year, but this time we are going to incorporate it into the charity to try to raise extra funds. It should be a really exciting weekend.

The race may be being run in my name but that doesn’t mean I will sit back and be polite and let someone else win. I’ll be putting the squeeze on a lot of people that I know, especially Dermot Weld, to supply me with a horse with a good chance of winning. I think everyone will be very excited when the line-up of ten jockeys for the race is announced later this week. It’s a field of very competitive riders and I would like to think that the competitive streak is still in me.

My return to fitness is going well. There’s no substitute for riding, of course, so I’ve been doing as much of that as I can without overdoing it.  I must admit I need to do a little bit more work in the gym, so that’s going to be happening in the near future. Having the opportunity to ride in a race again is something very special and I’m very grateful to the committee, and of course the Curragh team, for allowing me to do that. It may be for charity but I still want to win.

 

 

 

 

 

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