FROM MY PERSPECTIVE - SEARCHING FOR THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A RIDER AND A HORSEMAN
By Michael Cahill | Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Five-time Group 1 winning jockey Michael Cahill is the latest addition to the HRO blogging stable. Apart from Australia, Michael has ridden in the UK, Hong Kong, Singapore, Macau, Malaysia, South Korea and Mauritius. He brings thirty-three years of race riding experience to the game and with this greater all-around experience Michael is superbly qualified to give insightful commentary on the racing scene. Michael’s personal blog, ‘From my perspective’ will appear every Wednesday on HRO.
In my previous blog I referred to the fact that I felt I was more ‘the finished article’ these days in terms of my riding capabilities.
Judging by the response, many of you out there believe that some jockeys are merely ‘riders’ and others are genuine ‘horseman’ … with the latter having the higher level of standing … and, supposing that to be true, I have been asked to try and put my finger on what factors create that difference.
Clearly there is no readily available step-by-step answer to that other-wise all ‘riders’ would simply bridge the gap and become ‘horseman’.
To me, it really comes down to a factor, or combination of factors, that cannot be clearly defined.
If I had to plum for one point of focus above the rest in terms of describing a how a ‘horseman’ evolves, I would argue that some things can be learned, some things cannot … which is why, as in all sports, natural ability is obviously a big factor for a jockey.
If you are a natural that delicate combination of calmness and firmness that you need to be in control the saddle will come easier to you. That vibe will transfer to the horse.
They are intelligent creatures. They run on instinct a bit and your state of mind and attitude transfers to them and the more you are at one with them the more they are likely to give you … which is one argument why ‘horseman’ seemingly always find it easier to position a horse where they want to in a race and why they sometimes seem to get an extra couple of lengths effort out of the horse in the finish.
That is a direct result of the horse co-operating with the jockey. It is a partnership.
I remember many years ago when I was riding a lot for Gerald Ryan, who was training in Melbourne at the time, Gerald said to me that when Basil Marcus, the South African jockey who dominated in Hong Kong, came over and rode for him for a few weeks in the Hong Kong off-season, Gerald said any horse of his would run a bit quicker on the track for Basil Marcus than they would for any of his other riders … and he had some top Melbourne jockeys riding for him at that time.
They’d run a quicker time with Basil Marcus on than they would for any other jockey.
So there was definitely something there with a jockey who was probably a natural.
But then again, you have so many examples of different riders of varying capabilities that certain horses will just run for irrespective of whether they are ‘riders’ or ‘horseman’.
Those results again come down to the ‘intangible’ relationship between horse and jockey.
So, I’ve done my best to answer the ‘riders’ / ‘horseman’ question, but I did start off by saying that the difference probably cannot be defined in exact terms.
That was my best shot … but I will just throw in one last thought on the subject.
In the response I received the general belief was that ‘horseman’ are few and far between in the jockeys ranks these days and that possibly their small percentage is getting even less as the years go by.
I’m probably too close to the action to judge that, but my view is that if horsemanship is lacking a little bit nowadays it is because the apprentices don’t have that some sort of ‘hands on’ upbringing that was in play in the past.
There was always a lot more stable-work than there is nowadays which helped riders understand horses … which, in turn helped make them better riders.
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Wasn’t that a great story coming out of the Blue Diamond?
A small trainer, an apprentice rider who has had her share of adversity, incredible loyal owners and an unfashionably bred horse all played their part in making a $1 million race-plan come together.
You can take your pick which part of the Miracles Of Life story you want to emphasise and whatever you choose will be a good story for racing … particularly the loyalty. That was a big part of it.
Full credit to the connections for keeping Lauren Stojakovic on. They showed great loyalty in letting her keep the ride and they got repaid for doing that.
She not only got the job done, but she showed she could do it as well as anybody else.
The loyalty was justified. Like I said, just a terrific story.
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Because of that feel-good element, the Blue Diamond outcome largely overshadowed the effort of All Too Hard in the Futurity Stakes, but that too was a hugely impressive performance.
He just seems to be getting better and better and his value is just going to keep going up and up if he continues doing what he is doing.
He is a truly exciting prospect.
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The pick of the performances here at home was obviously Better Than Ready.
I rode I’m Cool in the race so I got a good, close-up look at Better Than Ready.
I was on his hind-quarters for a good part of the race. My horse uncharacteristically missed the start and he just raced a little bit field-shy.
It was a new experience for him being in amongst horses. He has always led or been outside the leader and he got a bit lost back in between them and was reluctant to hold his position so, that was how I came to have a good view of Better Than Ready in the race.
I was right outside him and when Ric McMahon asked Better Than Ready to go at the top of the straight he quickened like a really good horse can and lived up to the hype that there has been concerning his ability.
He was certainly very impressive from my vantage point.
Till next week,
Michael
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