The Pat Smullen Column: Promotion Of The Sport Is Key

[Wandering Eyes]

Oisin Murphy didn’t end up with a big winner on Saturday but he’s had a big year and that is the important thing. On Saturday I was thinking back to the work rate he has put in this year. He has ridden all over, travelling by plane, by helicopter, however he could get there to ride horses at two different meetings in a day, wherever they may be. His work ethic is something that needs to be applauded—that’s what you need to do to be champion jockey.

Oisin is not only an excellent rider but he is great for the game. He promotes our industry extremely well and I hope he does so for many years to come. I must admit, earlier in the year I was hoping that Danny Tudhope would be able to pull it off as the work that Danny has to put in to maintain his weight is phenomenal, and nobody sees that behind the scenes, but it wasn’t to be. Oisin looks like he could be champion jockey for many years to come. He’s only young and if he stays healthy and injury-free he should be able to avail of a great career.

When you’re young and starting out in the sport you have your idols and you try to emulate them. In my time it was Mick Kinane. I idolised him. I wanted to be Mick Kinane in the early days and I tried to conduct myself like he did. It was a job, you had to get it done, and it was a very serious job. I thought that was how to present myself but I soon realised that this is a great industry that needs to be promoted. Thankfully in my time we’ve had more and more younger children attending racing, wanting to get photographs, wanting to get autographs, and you have to engage and promote the sport.

I think Frankie Dettori has been a big influence on Oisin and he realises too that it’s important to be accessible. Media training is a big factor as well. That is now given in the British Racing School and also here in Ireland, whereas before you were left to your own devices and had to figure it out as you went along. All those elements have been very important in changing a rider’s mindset towards the press, towards the general public, and in how they present themselves. Every rider in in Britain, Ireland and around the world now realises how we have to embrace the support and promote it, and that is all for the good. Times have changed.

Of course I must also congratulate Cieren Fallon Jr on becoming champion apprentice. I spoke to his father Kieren when he kindly came over to ride in the Champions Day charity race and we spoke about Cieren. He was full of pride in how his son was getting on and we both agreed but that he is a very talented rider. Horses just seem to run for him. I see a lot of Kieren in his son in the saddle, and I’m sure Kieren and will be the first to admit that he is not like him out of the saddle. Cieren has a very good head on his shoulders for a young guy. He’s a latecomer to the game but he learnt quickly and I can see only improvement in him in the future.

There’s an excellent programme on Racing TV with father and son playing golf with David Yates and talking very candidly about their respective careers in the saddle. This is the kind of thing that we need to see more of. We must continue to push and sell racing in a very positive light, especially while there are some elements of the sport that people are trying to portray as negative. Racing has had bad press in Australia and America recently, and we have our own issues here with the whip. As we have discussed before, education is key and it is our duty to keep educating the general public on exactly what happens within racing by trying to show what a great industry this is. We need to encourage people to come and work in it and to come and enjoy it as a sport.

Magical Moments
It was a wonderful weekend of racing and the star was undoubtedly Magical (Ire). I know on form and ratings she was the best horse there but she had to back up after two weeks, having had a hard race in the Arc, and it was a fair performance by both the horse and her trainer. She’s an amazing mare and she pays a great compliment to Enable (GB) all the time. We’ve been very fortunate to be able to see these two great mares competing against each other. Aidan O’Brien has made reference to Magical’s iron constitution on numerous occasions and again after Ascot he said that she holds no grudges. Every day she comes out and wants to please and do it again.

Magical’s achievements have been slightly overshadowed by Enable, which is unfortunate, but you need two horses to make a horse race and she has done that on numerous occasions when challenging Enable and giving her some competition. To win two Champion Stakes in one season is no mean feat.

For me the ride of the day and one of the better rides of the season was Donnacha O’Brien on Kew Gardens (Ire). He just kept enough and when Stradivarius (Ire) came to beat him he had enough in reserve to bring out a little bit more. In doing so I think he broke Stradivarius’s heart a little bit in those conditions. I was highly impressed by the ride. It’s what Frankie Dettori has been doing all year long to other people.

Thanks To Comer Group International
Jockeys have been very fortunate to have had career-ending insurance in place for some time, but the Stobart sponsorship of this has come to an end in Ireland and it is coming to an end in Britain. So we are delighted to be able to announce that Luke and Brian Comer of the Comer International Group have stepped in in Ireland and have now funded this insurance. It means that around 95% of jockeys will carry their company logo on their breeches.

It is a very important policy and the Jockeys’ Association was quite concerned when the deal with the Stobart Group was coming to an end. Luke Comer is a great supporter of Irish racing and with his brother Brian they have pledged a three-year funding deal. In the unfortunate event of a rider sustaining a career-ending injury they would receive a one-off payment of €150,000. It’s not a life-changing sum of money but it is a sum that can bridge the gap from injury and getting back on your feet and into employment. It’s a great policy.

It no longer applies to me of course but the Jockeys’ Association is still very close to my heart and I still do some work with them, so it’s a great relief that the Comer Group has stepped in, and we are very appreciative of their support. In the past we had seven pay-outs while the scheme was under the Stobart sponsorship so it is important to be able to have the funding to keep it in place. Of course nobody wants to avail of it but it is good to know that it is there if it is needed.

 

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