Tom Queally the rider of Frankel... riding in poxy handicap hurdle at Lingfield

or just mad?

Or maybe just earning a living ....

It is not really clear what is the point of these gimmicks, whether Flat races for Jumps jockeys or Jumps races for Flat jockeys.

He's on the winner though!

Is hardly skint with £700K prize money won this year.

Biggest joke of the lot is Timmy Murphy riding in it FFS

Tom Queally booked as a last minute replacement for Mattie Batchelor. MB originally booked for the ride because he holds a flat licence for riding in Jersey in the summer months. Officials then got cold feet - presumably because MB is still principally a jumps jockey - and told Martin Keighley that such a booking is not in keeping with the spirit of the race conditions. TQ expressed a willingness to ride and was snapped up. Read all about it on the trainer's blog.

Surely less in the spirit of the race for a Grand National Winning jockey to be riding in it.

Thinly veiled "the prats who run racing gave it their usual lack of attention when they drew up the race conditions" thread imo.

I understand Tom gets 2 Frankel nominations free each year ,no he's not skint

isnt it rather sweet that the flat jockeys and jump jockeys get to meet each other once in a while? Queally can say to Tom Cannon ''who the fck are you, then? ''and Tom Cannon can say ''you might have had the ride on Frankel but youre still a first-class pr!ck'' .....

Another kick in the balls for Mattie, anyone think someone had it in for him..

I felt for him on Friday going all the way to Musselburgh for one ride that was second.

isnt it rather sweet that the flat jockeys and jump jockeys get to meet each other once in a while?

No, it makes life harder for punters and deprives lesser jockeys of a riding fee; I doubt it will sell a single extra ticket unless Frankie is jocked up.

Hi Ramruma,

Take it your not a fan then?!  And there's absolutely no reason why you should be so that's fine.  Just on your earlier blast though....here are those race conditions, which have been published for weeks now:

ENTRANTS AGREE THAT HORSES WILL BE RIDDEN BY PROFESSIONAL JOCKEYS LICENSED TO RIDE IN FLAT RACES ONLY UNDER RULE (D)3.3.1 AND SUCH RIDERS QUALIFIED UNDER RULE (D)27

What bit of that do you think has not been given due care or attention?  All looks pretty black and white to me

"you're"

found his level at last

See below relevant extract from Martin Keighley's blog:

"Lingfield hurdle race is for jockeys who hold a full professional flat licence but as I was keen to put Mattie Batchelor up and he also holds a full jump licence we rang Race Planning at Weatherbys last Thursday to check he was eligible and they confirmed he was so jockey agent Dave Roberts jocked him up.

However at nearly 11am, only 2 hours before jockeys have to be confirmed, Weatherbys rang to say Lingfield weren't happy with Mattie and we had to find a new jockey?!!?  So we were left with 2 hours to find a flat jockey with a full licence, not an amateur or apprentice, that was able to ride over hurdles, willing to ride over hurdles, and available to ride tomorrow.  No mean feat!  I tried, and failed, to get the decision overturned by speaking to Weatherbys again, Richard Russell in BHA HQ in London and to Ed Arkell, Lingfield's Clerk of the Course. 

I thought we'd have to make him a non-runner which, as he looks like starting favourite, was really disappointing.  However, at the same time Weatherbys rang to say that we could have longer than the 1pm deadline due to it being exceptional circumstances, Tom Queally's agent rang to say Tom has done plenty of jumping and would love to ride him.  Fantastic - Solstice's owners seem happy with Frankel's jockey as a deputy!"

Looking at race conditions posted by the Headmaster, fault for mix up with Mattie seems to lie with trainer for not being familiar with "flat licence only" requirement and Race Planning team at Weatherbys who gave the Mattie Batchelor jockey booking the initial thumbs up.

@The Headmaster -- clear but clearly not what was intended, if Mattie Batchelor was only breaking the spirit of the race conditions and not the letter (see Cash Is King's post). Timmy Murphy (also on this thread) is arguably a ringer as well. I guess the problem is that word "only" -- what is it intended to qualify?

The booking of Batch clearly wasn't just breaking the spirit, it was breaking the letter...as he doesn't only hold a Flat licence.

It is the word "only" that is ambiguous, since D3.3.1 is a licence for only Flat races.
http://rules.britishhorseracing.com/Orders-and-rules&staticID=126050&depth=3

Presumably the conditions were meant to apply to jockeys who only held a Flat licence, not those who held a licence for only Flat races.

The booking of Murphy and Crowley, fyi, are ok as they do only hold a Flat licence, which rather highlights the slightly absurd nature of this contest.

Would a better idea not be for the Lingfield Executive to prescribe the jockeys himself? 

That way he can sort it out himself and we don't get into a Batch/Murphy/Crowley scenario........

Btw, how much would the extra insurance have cost, to cover riding in a race for which the jockey is unlicensed and has no recent experience or training?

That sounds like a question to which you know the answer Ramruma!  Fire away...

@The Headmaster. No, I do not know. That's why I raised the question.

Tom and Timmie also down for Wolves later today. Sporting of them to support the race imo.

Black Emperor     10 Nov 15 12:48 
found his level at last.

Yep, the winner of 61 Group level Flat races with 22 at Group 1 has found his level by riding in a hurdle race.