Isn't Rose Loxton the Trainer of the fourth horse, which was ridden by Mr W Biddick

Pacha Du Polder surely the best horse in the race and would've won with say Carberry or Codd or O'Connor, etc?

shameful

@SYT

So? The betting public knew what they were getting with Pendleton riding and the horse was priced accordingly.

The horse doesn't care if it won or lost, so no damage done there.

Connections knew what the game was and were clearly happy to be part of the experiment and forgo the prizemoney they might have made with Nina Carberry or Sam W-C riding.

Where's the harm, why the negativity?  Good luck to her.

Plenty of excellent riders would have killed to be on that horse.

And they would have won.

Hate this celebrity obsession we have in this country.

Nothing against her per se but how many female jockeys who have been riding since the age of 5 would have loved to have had such an opportunity.

I cannot stand the celebrity obsession but racing is a minority sport that has benefited from numerous media articles about this lady.She has performed creditably and despite her inexperience we knew she was trying for her life to win,something that can't be said all the time in racing. The one thing that turned me in her favour was how she waited for Nina Carberry to enter the winner's enclosure to go across and congratulate her for winning rather than bask in media attention,she is a class act.

I don't think there's any doubt that one of the top amateurs would've won on him, he's only finished beaten 2.5L having finished like he jumped in at the second last fence. Nina is surely worth more than 2.5L to any horse she rides compared with Victoria Pendleton

Any other support would kill for this level of publicity. Racing is pushed further and further to the fringes of coverage. I can understand that some people might resent the attention and fast track privileges accorded to VP, but they'll be enjoying any positives when she has moved on to her next reality venture. In the end it was the best possessible result. She didn't fall off, she wasn't tailed off after a circuit, and the horse carried her to a decent place without affecting the placings for betting purposes. The horse wouldn't have been a much shorter price of a more experienced rider had ridden it due to serious stamina doubts. No serious punter would have backed it today, and the £2 punters who came in because of the publicity would have enjoyed the race and it may encourage them to come back and watch more racing and bet more. Surely this is all good?  Our do we want interest in the sport to be confined to a declining number of grumpy old blokes in the corner of the betting shop or the forum?

I don't think there's any doubt that one of the top amateurs would've won on him

Whose to say a more competent (and bolder) rider might have used the horses energy up and given a different ride, maybe moving up sooner and going for something that wasn't there, falling or whatever? The ride would have had to have been very similar and maybe somebody else that knows about these things knows batter but I'm pretty sure not many amateurs are known for holding up out the back and coming through horses so whose to say?

The whole thing was a very heavily publicised celebrity exercise.  Promotes the sport beyond its normal audience - which is good.

She gave it a pretty darned good ride. A little cautious maybe, but then if Jamie Spencer holds one up and rattles through late and does/doesn't get there he is a hero/villain.

If she had ridden closer to the pace, or tried to lead, or closed sooner... who knows.  Might have won, might have finished last.  I think it was a great effort - hats off to VP, PN and other supporters.

And anyone that backed it and moans about it, can jump in a lake!  If it had been ridden by a well known/leading amateur, it would have been 4-1 fav. Might have fared better, might not.  It was ridden by a "newbie", which is why it was 28-1 or something... which is why you backed it!!!

I take my hat off to the team behind the lady. She did very well.

There's now talk of trying to get special permission for her to ride in the Aintree Foxhunter next month.

The horse had never before finished within 10L of a winner in 4 starts over more than 2m4
nina's brother himself couldnt have done a better job

Injera    18 Mar 16 18:57 
Plenty of excellent riders would have killed to be on that horse.

And they would have won.

Hate this celebrity obsession we have in this country.

Nothing against her per se but how many female jockeys who have been riding since the age of 5 would have loved to have had such an opportunity.




100% agree.

I've bee watching racing over forty years and I'll tell you now she gave that horse a peach of a ride until two out. She saved all the ground going. She sat still and conserved its energy when it put in the occasional sketchy jump and she was calmness personified transmitted to the horse which must have loved ever minute. Till that point two out if that had been Ruby Walsh himself creeping into the race people would have waxed lyrical. Of course she didn't have the skill to ride a top class finish which would have seen her go very close at the end but all in all that was a terrific effort.

Oh, and she's also said that she's nowhere near ready to tackle the Aintree Foxhunter, smart girl.

I think the achievement by Victoria Pendleton is huge having no previous experience of riding racehorses until the past year or so.

What I find difficult to comprehend is a lesser 'celeb' would have been questioned by the stewards for making too little effort and too late. 

I can accept she has only ridden in two previous races under rules prior to yesterday, and riding a tactical race without that experience was always going to be nigh on impossible.

However if the stewards felt Nina Carberry was worthy of a seven day ban for trying her best to win the race, it does seem crazy that no questions were asked about an exact opposite ride.

might as well go ott as everyone else

she equalled secretariat most iconic moments of horse racing

".....said that she's nowhere near ready to tackle the Aintree Foxhunter, smart girl."

Wise decision, at this stage I think that would be pushing it too far. Amazing achievement yesterday, and all the media hype very good for racing, imagine what it would have been like if she had actually won. Very pleased she didn't take a tumble. And has a jockey ever got more publicity for finishing 5th ?!