FROM MY PERSPECTIVE - COMPETITIVE RIDING IS AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE CONTEST
By Michael Cahill | Wednesday, April 10, 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.
The respective rides of Hugh Bowman (on Streama) and Nash Rawiller (on More Joyous) in the Group 1 Queen Of The Turf Stakes Rosehill on Saturday have justifiably attracted much comment.
Bowman knew he had the mare on his inside to beat and he certainly wasn’t going to do her any favours. He doesn’t have to get out of her road. He had her in a pocket and was entitled to keep her there.
That obviously increased the difficulty for More Joyous and, while Nash made every attempt to find an opening in the straight and to force his way through, their challenge came unstuck.
It was really just a case of competitive riding at the highest level and you would really not expect anything less.
You could understand that things might get more aggressive on the bigger stage or why there is a perception that they do.
In these Group 1 races you have top riders with their winning mindset, you have better quality horses which increases the level of competitiveness and you are all chasing for greater prize-money, so it is naturally quite of volatile mix but, having said that, in terms of how I go out to ride my race … and I can only speak for myself … it wouldn’t make any difference to me if it was a Sunday Maiden at Coloundra or a Group 1 in Sydney.
The latter is obviously a far bigger occasion, but my job as a rider is to do whatever I can within reason to give my mount the best run to try and win the race.
You have to take whatever opportunities are offered to you in the running to increase your chance of victory, including the type of opportunity Bowman took on Saturday, and that role doesn’t change whether you are at a provincial meeting or at a Metropolitan Carnival meeting.
You should always be riding competitively.
This type of thing obviously does come under more scrutiny when an ‘incident’ occurs involving a favourite in a big race and that is why More Joyous’s run got the coverage it did.
***********************************************************************************************
I had another good day on Saturday coming back on three winners.
I wasn’t overly confident going into the meeting.
With Transporter there was a bit of a query on the ground.
He is not at home on that sort of surface even though he came out and won impressively. He is a better horse. He needs a firm track. He has a bit of quality about him and fortunately the track wasn’t too wet so he could show something of what he could do.
With Seeking More I was a bit concerned about the barrier.
He’d drawn nine out of ten. That was a bit of a tricky gate. He could easily have found himself deep, but fortunately he was able to get into a good position.
The first winner, Vienna Queen, didn’t have the best of runs but too her credit she stuck her neck out. She is a determined little thing and certainly tried hard.
**********************************************************************************************
That treble took me up to 65 metro wins just over eight months into the season.
I few people have asked whether I’m aiming at the magical one hundred winners figure.
To be honest, I hadn’t even thought of it until it was mentioned to me. So the answer is, no … not really!
It would be a lovely target to reach. Chris Munce did it last season. He was the first rider to do so. That shows you how hard it is to do, so you can’t really target something like that. You just have to keep working on your next winner.
You have got to remember as well that they have switched quite a few midweek meetings away from Brisbane so that makes that task harder again.
I rode three winners at the Gold Coast on Wednesday and there will be more midweeks coming up at the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast instead of Brisbane.
That’s just the way it is and I’ll just be looking to ride as many winners as I can and let the end total number of winners take care of itself.
**********************************************************************************************
The newly announced fixture list for next season means different things to different people but it won’t affect me much.
I’m conscious of trying to keep my workload in check. I find it is very easy to slip into a routine where you do too much, so I guard against that.
I think it is important to keep a little bit fresh, both mentally and physically. I think that is part of the key to success.
I ride midweek and then at Ipswich … then in town on Saturday and also most Sundays … not all. I have barrier trials and track-work too so that’s enough for me.
So I won’t be going everywhere when the new fixture list kicks in. In essence I will just be looking to maintain the sort of workload I have got now.
**********************************************************************************************
The one exception will be this Saturday evening when I will board the helicopter that has been arranged by Racing Queensland to shuttle riders from Doomben to the Weetwood meeting at Toowoomba.
I have done something similar before.
I remember one time I won the Todman Slipper Trial on Great Crusader at Rosehill in 2000 … flew back to Brisbane and then caught a helicopter to ride in the Toowoomba Cup.
I will ride Unanimously for Canberra based trainer Matthew Dale in the Weetwood. (Unanimously’s best recent result was a fifth placing behind Mrs Onasis in the Oakleigh Plate on February 13).
So, yes, I will be at the top of the range on Saturday night.
**********************************************************************************************
Lastly, just a word about that man Chris Munce.
Chris takes three rides at Eagle Farm today in his return to the saddle after having been sidelined for medical treatment for the last three months.
It just shows Chris’s tenacity and what a marvellous job he has done during his time away that he can come back so soon from what he has gone through.
He is a terrific rider and a great competitor and racing can only benefit from his return to action.
It’s great to have him back.
Till next week,
Michael
More articles
|