Eyes have it: who to trust with your cash
Sydney Morning Herald
Friday February 5, 2010
"Just like horses, you can tell a lot about a jockey by just looking into his eyes." - the great insight of Bart Cummings on judging jockeys."This is a lesson Dad taught me and it's a lesson I've always applied." - the master wrote in his autobiography, Bart - My Life (Pan Macmillan). "You need to look deep into their eyes until you see their spirit. If they have that will to win and the brains to achieve it, they're the ones you want to work with."The subject of good, great and champion jockeys comes to mind when attempting to find the best of the latest crop. Of course, this can vary from week to week or month to month. Some jockeys have tremendous seasons but can taper off quickly. Plagued by age, wasting, falls or what Mel Schumacher described as "I don't frighten, others do," the sharp edge required to stay at the top blunts. Some, such as Jim Cassidy, retain the ability. Age seasons them rather than depletes.But who is the best now? Perhaps Damien Oliver has been on the pedestal for longer and still has a high degree of skill, emphasised by his triumph on Nicconi in the Lightning Stakes down the Flemington straight course last Saturday. Yet in his present form is he consistently better than Corey Brown or Hugh Bowman? Queenslanders maintain none is riding better than Stathi Katsidis.Down south Luke Nolen is the new spot on the winning radar and the unique style of Craig Williams, like a batsman who holds up an end, is safe and solid.Criteria for top jockey gets down to personal opinion, including how well they perform carrying your money. Riding for big stables has advantages while being able to pick and chose mounts makes statistics look good. My final assessment centres around the butcher's bill. How many of their mounts should have got home and didn't? Also, could any other jockey have gained the same result as they do in winning? With the Cummings pointer concerning the eyes, Mick Dittman had the eye of the tiger and so, too, Cassidy, when primed for a group 1."Give me a jockey that you can put on five favourites and get five good rides, let alone winners, and he's one I want," the late Tommy Smith would pontificate.Basically Smith required his horses up front and out of trouble. He had many top-liners kicking home, in some cases, hundreds of winners for him, but when their form lapsed they were sacked.At times he questioned the tactics of George Moore only to be told: "Ride it yourself."It is doubtful whether Cummings had a favourite jockey but Roy Higgins rated highly."Higgins had what few jockeys have: intuition and awareness," Cummings pointed out. "By that I mean he just didn't put his head down and ride like he had blinkers on. He was aware of how the whole field was racing, the way it took shape as the race went on, and because of that he seemed to sense something was going to happen just before it did. Due to his powers of perception he was usually in the right place at the right time ..."Some jockeys can't see further than their own nose. Higgins had a clear head and wide peripheral vision. Perception is a rarer quality than balance or power or any other talents a jockey may have. They can all ride but few can think. In that regard Higgins was at the top of his profession."Sure, Cummings was and is demanding when it comes to instructions but Higgins wasn't tied down by some of the boof-headed game plans imposed on his modern-day counterparts. Nor did he have to tolerate this ridiculous rule where a change in riding pattern has to be telegraphed before the race. But for those interested in statistics, supplied by Racenet, the following is jockey form and involvement over the past 12 months at the time of publication:WINS1. Hugh Bowman 1842. Brad Rawiller 1603. Greg Ryan 1504. Chris Symons 1455. Linda Meech 1436. Luke Nolen 1427. Corey Brown 1378. Craig Williams 1379. Dean Yendall 13610. Robert Thompson 136RIDES1. Grant Buckley 14642. Chris Symons 12853. Jeff Penza 12674. Dale Spriggs 11075. Linda Meech 10836. Dean Yendall 10757. Craig Newitt 10568. Michael Hellyer 10479. Tommy Berry 101110. Robert Thompson 1004PRIZEMONEY EARNED1. Corey Brown $11,824,1752. Damien Oliver $9,165,2533. Kerrin McEvoy $8,919,1534. Nash Rawiller $8,518,1395. Craig Williams $8,322,8446. Brad Rawiller $7,982,9337. Hugh Bowman $7,831,8308. Glen Boss $7,673,3279. Luke Nolen $6,644,10810. Craig Newitt $5,771,625Taking them into consideration the type of "initiative" produced by Brown on Tallow at Flemington last Saturday put him on top today, but Bowman is suspended. Possibly Brown will have to work on eye venom. It could change next week. But a final thought from the Master:"I had engaged Higgins once before to ride Native Statesman," Cummings commented. "He was beaten as favourite and Higgins, by his own admission, didn't ride at his best. I appreciated his honesty but sacked him nonetheless."No rest as birthday boy Bell leads the wayONCE upon a time the brake would have been put on form apprentices such as Tim Bell, who turned 17 on Thursday.The Tamworth-based Bell, fresh from four Doomben winners last Saturday, will be in action at Rosehill on Saturday.His birthday was spent travelling down to Hawkesbury for a postponed meeting.Despite his forays over the border Bell leads a talent-packed NSW apprentices' premiership on 52 winners this season and gained his ticket to ride only last February.Undoubtedly, Bell has been well managed by country trainer Sue Grills and shouldn't be rushed away from her guidance. Obviously he would be a great acquisition to a Sydney stable.Early mounts for him at Rosehill will be demanding with no real stand-outs. Perhaps Welkom Gold, freshened up and back with Darren Smith, in the last race will benefit most from his two-kilogram claim.Gardner, an earlier mount in the Shift2neutral Handicap, pulled up last start with cardiac arrhythmia.Still, Bell has been seen to advantage with two recent successes on Dealers, purchased by Grills from Peter Snowden, in Brisbane, emphasising the trainer's skill also in placing her equine charge to advantage.But old-timers warn about apprentice jockeys going too far too quick - running out of their weight allowance before shaving regularly.When the system dictated that apprentices came out of their time at 21, the ideal finish was to have a claim as close as possible to the finish.These days apprentices become seniors much earlier with Bell due to end in 2012.While riding winners in town, he is affecting his provincial and country allowance. The perfect situation is to go through the minor leagues before cracking the big time.Greats such as Malcolm Johnston and Wayne Harris, though, couldn't be contained.
© 2010 Sydney Morning Herald