FROM THE SHERIFF'S DESK - THE UNPREDICTABILTY OF RACING IS ONE OF THE GREAT ATTRACTIONS OF THE GAME

By John Schreck | Wednesday, March 2, 2016

John Schreck, a former Chief Steward in both Sydney and Hong Kong, has seen both the colourful and the dark sides of racing. His wealth of experience and his deep knowledge of racing matters across the board is unquestioned and the reputation he built as a racing ‘lawman’ remains firmly entrenched in racing’s history. Shreck’s personal blog, ‘From the Sheriff’s Desk', appears exclusively on HRO.

I’m a big fan of the unpredictability of horse racing. It is one of the great attractions of the game.

Back in my time we used speed maps as an aid as to whether a horse would be in front or out the back, but we didn’t live or die by them and I don’t necessarily like to see horses encouraged to be ridden in the same way day after day.

Different races are run at different tempos with different size fields in different underfoot conditions so to press a horse to run the same way every time is not doing anybody any favours, least of all the punters who the idea is supposed to protect.

Some racing stewards these days do tend to follow speed maps altogether too much. Knowing there is that level of scrutiny can discourage initiative on the part of the jockey.

Given the way races are often run here, I think the opposite should apply ... initiative should be encouraged, not discouraged.

That is one of the things about Joao Moreira, the champion jockey in Hong Kong. If he doesn’t think they are going quickly enough and he is on a fit horse, he will go to the front anytime ... and he wins a lot of races because of that initiative.

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One of the problems with harness racing over the years has been its predictability. They slot into a spot two by two by two and then only get going down the back the last time around. Even in horse racing these days the commentators frequently call horses two pairs back or three pairs back.

When racing is like that I think it is deplorable.

That is one of the general problems in racing today. As the race goes on the race gets quicker whereas, in a good horse race, it should get slower ... at least in distances up to a mile.

After that, in longer distance races, it is a different story, but as the race progresses up to 1400m or a mile the time per section should be slower.

That’s my view.

It should be as it is in America. There, when they leave the barriers a bell rings that would wake the dead and the horses take off ... and towards the end of the race the tank is nearly empty.

That scenario brings about less interference and the best horse wins more frequently which are just two of the benefits of a true run race.

The problem here is that we have scarcity of true run races and that, to me, is an issue of far more concern than making horses stick to racing patterns or have jockeys worried about taking their horses wide.

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That unpredictability I enjoy is the product of so many variables but when things don’t go to plan all too often it is the jockey who is shouldered with the blame because the rider is the easiest target for an excuse.

It is a difficult job being a jockey and I sympathise with them.

They are under a lot of pressure. If they are overweight they get fined by the stewards. If they are underweight and they can’t ride the horse out properly, they get sacked by the owner.

They’ve got a relatively short working life and people don’t really fully appreciate the work they do and the dangers they face.

It would be good to get some of the critics around the back and into the thick of the action so that they could hear the jockeys screaming at one other for a bit more room and see how close they come to clipping heels and that sort of thing while travelling at nearly forty miles an hour on a 500kg horse ... boot to boot!

Racing ‘experts’ obviously never find themselves in that position. The chances are they go home safely after a race meeting while a jockey could go home with a broken back.

I sometimes don’t know how the jockeys do it!

Whatever your views on the above discussion, we should all at least give jockeys credit for doing a job that most of us would not be able to handle.