Jamie Spencer
I am a big Jamie Spencer fan, he does have alot of critics but I don't think anyone could argue his natural ability with horses.
Im used to Jamies cool and calm rides-when he pulls it off its sublime, when it goes wrong it looks horrendous.
I used to work at Cheveley Park and they took him off there horses after a falling out, but no jockey has the same affect on Cesare and Spacious that Spencer does-he knows the horses inside out and in my humble opinion he should be re-instated on Fanshawes Cheveley Park horses.
But and the whole point of this blog is the Windsor ride-and my goodness it does look awful I will be honest and do not see how he can defend that ride!
Ok the horse did not break that quickly but was soon in 5/6 th place on rails going well, Spencer had plenty of time to manoeuvre and give this horse a winning chance instead of just sitting there,Thomas Baines finished full of running which must be so frustrating for Trainer,Owner and punters alike.
Im also surprised the stewards let this pass ive seen them hand out severe punishments for much less.
Ok he messed up and should really admit it was a bad ride instead of defending it, but theres alot of idiots out there calling him "the worst jockey ever" and "Jock him off Delegator" this is punter drivel in my opinion-you dont become champion jockey and ride for Coolmore, if your not good and I think Mr Spencer is in the top 3 jockeys riding today in England today.
I do not like these forums slagging off Jockeys for bad rides-every punter knows the risks when bets are placed if your horse loses you just need to accept it and move on there is no point blaming jockeys,horses, or trainers its really not the end of the world and if it is you should be seeking help.
So instead of slagging these Jockeys off perhaps a bit of praise is due, they starve themselves to make the weight, travel endless amounts and work alot harder than many sportsmen out there.
I even read on one of these forums(I won't say which) some idiot saying one A.P mcCoy was overrated!!!!...... after laughing I left the site also feeling rather agrieved that people write this nonsense.
So just like Sesame Street or was it He-Man the moral of this story is respect our jockeys and dont contribute to these idiots on forums.
WRITTEN BY DARREN HUDSON-WOOD 22/04/09