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Gosden Stoute and all other Top Trainers putting her up a few Years back...Now nothing.
'I put all my eggs in one basket and I had no-one when I left - I was just riding everywhere and anywhere'
Josephine Gordon tells Catherine Macrae how she keeps battling away through tough times
author image
Catherine Macrae
Reporter
Josephine Gordon: rode 106 winners in 2017 but living off much slimmer pickings now
Josephine Gordon: rode 106 winners in 2017 but living off much slimmer pickings now
Credit: John Grossick (racingpost.com/photos)
In its 245-year history, only three women have ridden in the Derby. There was a time when it seemed like a foregone conclusion that Josephine Gordon would be the fourth.
Indeed, Gordon declared her intent to win the Classic just a year after Ana O'Brien partnered The Anvil in 2017, and the ambition seemed a natural progression for what had already been a dazzling start to her career, with the apprentice title in 2016 followed by a maiden century the next year.
Yet the life of a jockey is rarely smooth sailing and six years later things have not panned out as Gordon would have hoped. Her numbers have dwindled and dreams of Epsom's biggest event have been replaced by the rainy reality of a midweek meeting at Brighton.
Sheltering from the downpour in a small conference room in the course's office, Gordon is all too aware of her situation, but her determination to succeed in an often gruelling profession is unwavering.
"You've just got to keep grafting," she says, diligently keeping one eye on the clock ahead of her sole ride in the opening sprint handicap. "Things this year are going better than they were but they're not going amazingly.
"One year I rode 106 winners – I'm nowhere near that at all now. I'd love to say I'm going to get back there but you can't unless you're grafting and riding winners, which is what I'm really set on doing at the moment.
"What keeps me going is that I just love racing. I love it. There's no other job that would give you the same buzz and adrenaline. You're up, you're down, you're everywhere. For example, the start of last week wasn't very good at all, but then I had a few seconds in some nice races and it was okay, we finished off the week well. But yesterday, I had three runners and all three of them got scrapped, so suddenly you're just sitting at home.
"Every day in racing, you're feeling some sort of emotion, though it's not always a good one. Whereas if you work in an office, your excitement for the day could be lunch."
Josephine Gordon: still enjoying life in the saddle
Josephine Gordon: still enjoying life in the saddle
Credit: Alan Crowhurst (Getty Images)
Gordon has enjoyed her fair share of excitement in a 12-year career but is no stranger to the lows either, having gone from becoming only the second woman to break the 100-winner barrier in 2017 to achieving just nine winners five years later. Although her numbers have picked up since, she has had to forge her way through times where success has been hard to find while maintaining belief in her abilities.
She says: "Momentum plays a huge part in being a jockey. I think you definitely want to be riding a winner a week for someone to notice, which sounds easy when you're someone like Hollie Doyle, but it's such a huge factor for all of us.
"A lot of it's confidence too. It's all about riding winners; nice horses with chances can provide you with such a boost.
"There have been times where you go out there thinking, well, this is just a case of getting round, that sort of thing. It makes you start thinking about how other trainers and owners will notice when you're pretty much finishing out the back of the field, or you’re not getting the results you want.
"People notice winners, and that's where opportunities come from. You try not to think about how results can affect your chances of other rides, but I'm not the only one in this position, probably 50 per cent of the weighing room thinks the same sort of thing.
"There are not very many spares, unless there's a day when there are six meetings on, but a lot of us jockeys would probably be out fighting for whatever is left over. I'll take any rides I can get."
Gordon's ability to persevere through trying times is founded in her unwavering dedication to her career. The youngest of four siblings, she was taught to ride by her mother Cheryl and cut her teeth in pony racing, discovering from the very first ride that this was the profession in which she was destined to thrive.
"I remember that first pony race like it was yesterday, I came back in with this feeling of clarity," she says. "I was absolutely useless in the race, I was about five wide, but it was the best feeling I've ever had. I've had some big winners, but I still think nothing tops that first ride.
"I knew I was going to be a jockey then and every other Thursday I'd have to go to gallop my pony. My English teacher used to hate it because I missed double English a couple of times. She pulled me in one day; she was like, 'Are you okay? What's going on? Why aren't you in class?' I told her I had to canter my pony and she went mad. She said, 'Everyone wants to be a Ruby Walsh, you're not going to make it', so I actually sent her a DVD a few years later of how well I'd done."
Gordon claimed her first winner under rules in 2013, then suffered a 20-month drought before her second, but once the winners started flying in it seemed as though they wouldn't stop, with Gordon linking up with Stan Moore before emerging victorious in the apprentice title battle against Tom Marquand.
Josephine Gordon steers Wall Of Fire to victory in the Mallard Stakes during her apprentice title season in 2016
Josephine Gordon steers Wall Of Fire to victory in the Mallard Stakes during her apprentice title season in 2016
Credit: Edward Whitaker (racingpost.com/photos)
Soon after her championship victory she established herself with Hugo Palmer, who became a vital source of her success in the following years. Two Group 3 victories and a handful of Listed wins came courtesy of the Newmarket trainer, while outside rides also bore fruit, with Victoria Cup glory for William Haggas and Listed success in the Godolphin silks on Arabian Hope in the Ganton Stakes.
"I was just coming to the end of my claim when I moved to Hugo's and I loved it," she recalls. "It was such a step up in the calibre of horse and I had to pinch myself. The first time I went to Newmarket to gallop one of his horses, I just thought, 'Bloody hell, this is an absolute machine', but I hadn't even sat on the good horses yet.
"I made a list of things I wanted to tick off when I was 16: get my licence, have a race ride, get an apprentice licence, have a winner, ride on ITV, and then ride in a Group race. During that time I managed to tick them all off. It was so educational and it worked for the best part of a year and a half as we had a lot of winners."
However, in 2019 the trainer and jockey parted ways. After such a fruitful relationship, the decision to turn to freelancing was an abrupt change of pace.
"It's tough to enjoy that kind of success because you always want to do better, so I probably didn't appreciate the winners I was getting with Hugo at the time and when we parted ways it was one of the toughest times in my career," she says.
"There was no falling out at all, I've had rides off him since and when I see him it's all polite. It was just a case of, like any job in racing, it had run its course. I'm not the first jockey and I definitely won't be the last for that to happen to.
"I'm not going to say it was a sob story, but when I went to Hugo's I put all my eggs into one basket, and when I left the yard I didn't really have anyone. For the next year or two I was just riding out everywhere and anywhere I could. Nowadays, trainers have got their first and second jockeys and an apprentice, so you're going into yards wondering if there's even going to be anything.
"I'm lucky with Phil McEntee to be his first jockey and obviously he's got his daughter Grace, who's a claimer. I ride out pretty much every day for him and it's nice to be back part of a team. We all want the best for the horses, and that brings the best results."
It is for McEntee that Gordon has made the two-hour drive from her home in Newmarket for the ride on Jacquelina in the opener at Brighton, just days after her 31st birthday. The link-up with her local Newmarket trainer has been a key source of her winners over the last two years and has been a welcome return to life as a retained rider, but the hardship of fighting for spare rides is still ever-present.
Josephine Gordon riding Jacquelina (right) to victory for Phil McEntee at Brighton
Josephine Gordon riding Jacquelina (right) to victory for Phil McEntee at Brighton
Credit: Alan Crowhurst (Getty Images)
"When I first started riding I had to wait a year and a half between my first and second winners – I always have to keep that in my head because when you're not winning it just feels like everything seems to go wrong," she says.
"Everyone says tomorrow's a new day, but it's hard when momentum is against you, and you do dwell on it.
"It's a rollercoaster of emotions but I'm lucky with my family in Devon, because they've accepted the amount of weddings and funerals and everything else I've missed. They get that, at the end of the day, if you're missing a ride because you're off with your family then you're not getting back on that ride. Whatever ride you get, you take."
That mentality has served Gordon well and is one she aims to put to good use once more in the day's opener as the clock signals the end of our conversation. She runs through the crowd back to the weighing room and moments later emerges, ready to make the most of her only ride of the afternoon.
If riding one winner a week is what's needed for people to take notice, then Gordon knows how to deliver as Jacquelina knuckles down to score by a head. It may not be the Derby, but it is exactly what was needed.
Josephine Gordon tells Catherine Macrae how she keeps battling away through tough times
author image
Catherine Macrae
Reporter
Josephine Gordon: rode 106 winners in 2017 but living off much slimmer pickings now
Josephine Gordon: rode 106 winners in 2017 but living off much slimmer pickings now
Credit: John Grossick (racingpost.com/photos)
In its 245-year history, only three women have ridden in the Derby. There was a time when it seemed like a foregone conclusion that Josephine Gordon would be the fourth.
Indeed, Gordon declared her intent to win the Classic just a year after Ana O'Brien partnered The Anvil in 2017, and the ambition seemed a natural progression for what had already been a dazzling start to her career, with the apprentice title in 2016 followed by a maiden century the next year.
Yet the life of a jockey is rarely smooth sailing and six years later things have not panned out as Gordon would have hoped. Her numbers have dwindled and dreams of Epsom's biggest event have been replaced by the rainy reality of a midweek meeting at Brighton.
Sheltering from the downpour in a small conference room in the course's office, Gordon is all too aware of her situation, but her determination to succeed in an often gruelling profession is unwavering.
"You've just got to keep grafting," she says, diligently keeping one eye on the clock ahead of her sole ride in the opening sprint handicap. "Things this year are going better than they were but they're not going amazingly.
"One year I rode 106 winners – I'm nowhere near that at all now. I'd love to say I'm going to get back there but you can't unless you're grafting and riding winners, which is what I'm really set on doing at the moment.
"What keeps me going is that I just love racing. I love it. There's no other job that would give you the same buzz and adrenaline. You're up, you're down, you're everywhere. For example, the start of last week wasn't very good at all, but then I had a few seconds in some nice races and it was okay, we finished off the week well. But yesterday, I had three runners and all three of them got scrapped, so suddenly you're just sitting at home.
"Every day in racing, you're feeling some sort of emotion, though it's not always a good one. Whereas if you work in an office, your excitement for the day could be lunch."
Josephine Gordon: still enjoying life in the saddle
Josephine Gordon: still enjoying life in the saddle
Credit: Alan Crowhurst (Getty Images)
Gordon has enjoyed her fair share of excitement in a 12-year career but is no stranger to the lows either, having gone from becoming only the second woman to break the 100-winner barrier in 2017 to achieving just nine winners five years later. Although her numbers have picked up since, she has had to forge her way through times where success has been hard to find while maintaining belief in her abilities.
She says: "Momentum plays a huge part in being a jockey. I think you definitely want to be riding a winner a week for someone to notice, which sounds easy when you're someone like Hollie Doyle, but it's such a huge factor for all of us.
"A lot of it's confidence too. It's all about riding winners; nice horses with chances can provide you with such a boost.
"There have been times where you go out there thinking, well, this is just a case of getting round, that sort of thing. It makes you start thinking about how other trainers and owners will notice when you're pretty much finishing out the back of the field, or you’re not getting the results you want.
"People notice winners, and that's where opportunities come from. You try not to think about how results can affect your chances of other rides, but I'm not the only one in this position, probably 50 per cent of the weighing room thinks the same sort of thing.
"There are not very many spares, unless there's a day when there are six meetings on, but a lot of us jockeys would probably be out fighting for whatever is left over. I'll take any rides I can get."
Gordon's ability to persevere through trying times is founded in her unwavering dedication to her career. The youngest of four siblings, she was taught to ride by her mother Cheryl and cut her teeth in pony racing, discovering from the very first ride that this was the profession in which she was destined to thrive.
"I remember that first pony race like it was yesterday, I came back in with this feeling of clarity," she says. "I was absolutely useless in the race, I was about five wide, but it was the best feeling I've ever had. I've had some big winners, but I still think nothing tops that first ride.
"I knew I was going to be a jockey then and every other Thursday I'd have to go to gallop my pony. My English teacher used to hate it because I missed double English a couple of times. She pulled me in one day; she was like, 'Are you okay? What's going on? Why aren't you in class?' I told her I had to canter my pony and she went mad. She said, 'Everyone wants to be a Ruby Walsh, you're not going to make it', so I actually sent her a DVD a few years later of how well I'd done."
Gordon claimed her first winner under rules in 2013, then suffered a 20-month drought before her second, but once the winners started flying in it seemed as though they wouldn't stop, with Gordon linking up with Stan Moore before emerging victorious in the apprentice title battle against Tom Marquand.
Josephine Gordon steers Wall Of Fire to victory in the Mallard Stakes during her apprentice title season in 2016
Josephine Gordon steers Wall Of Fire to victory in the Mallard Stakes during her apprentice title season in 2016
Credit: Edward Whitaker (racingpost.com/photos)
Soon after her championship victory she established herself with Hugo Palmer, who became a vital source of her success in the following years. Two Group 3 victories and a handful of Listed wins came courtesy of the Newmarket trainer, while outside rides also bore fruit, with Victoria Cup glory for William Haggas and Listed success in the Godolphin silks on Arabian Hope in the Ganton Stakes.
"I was just coming to the end of my claim when I moved to Hugo's and I loved it," she recalls. "It was such a step up in the calibre of horse and I had to pinch myself. The first time I went to Newmarket to gallop one of his horses, I just thought, 'Bloody hell, this is an absolute machine', but I hadn't even sat on the good horses yet.
"I made a list of things I wanted to tick off when I was 16: get my licence, have a race ride, get an apprentice licence, have a winner, ride on ITV, and then ride in a Group race. During that time I managed to tick them all off. It was so educational and it worked for the best part of a year and a half as we had a lot of winners."
However, in 2019 the trainer and jockey parted ways. After such a fruitful relationship, the decision to turn to freelancing was an abrupt change of pace.
"It's tough to enjoy that kind of success because you always want to do better, so I probably didn't appreciate the winners I was getting with Hugo at the time and when we parted ways it was one of the toughest times in my career," she says.
"There was no falling out at all, I've had rides off him since and when I see him it's all polite. It was just a case of, like any job in racing, it had run its course. I'm not the first jockey and I definitely won't be the last for that to happen to.
"I'm not going to say it was a sob story, but when I went to Hugo's I put all my eggs into one basket, and when I left the yard I didn't really have anyone. For the next year or two I was just riding out everywhere and anywhere I could. Nowadays, trainers have got their first and second jockeys and an apprentice, so you're going into yards wondering if there's even going to be anything.
"I'm lucky with Phil McEntee to be his first jockey and obviously he's got his daughter Grace, who's a claimer. I ride out pretty much every day for him and it's nice to be back part of a team. We all want the best for the horses, and that brings the best results."
It is for McEntee that Gordon has made the two-hour drive from her home in Newmarket for the ride on Jacquelina in the opener at Brighton, just days after her 31st birthday. The link-up with her local Newmarket trainer has been a key source of her winners over the last two years and has been a welcome return to life as a retained rider, but the hardship of fighting for spare rides is still ever-present.
Josephine Gordon riding Jacquelina (right) to victory for Phil McEntee at Brighton
Josephine Gordon riding Jacquelina (right) to victory for Phil McEntee at Brighton
Credit: Alan Crowhurst (Getty Images)
"When I first started riding I had to wait a year and a half between my first and second winners – I always have to keep that in my head because when you're not winning it just feels like everything seems to go wrong," she says.
"Everyone says tomorrow's a new day, but it's hard when momentum is against you, and you do dwell on it.
"It's a rollercoaster of emotions but I'm lucky with my family in Devon, because they've accepted the amount of weddings and funerals and everything else I've missed. They get that, at the end of the day, if you're missing a ride because you're off with your family then you're not getting back on that ride. Whatever ride you get, you take."
That mentality has served Gordon well and is one she aims to put to good use once more in the day's opener as the clock signals the end of our conversation. She runs through the crowd back to the weighing room and moments later emerges, ready to make the most of her only ride of the afternoon.
If riding one winner a week is what's needed for people to take notice, then Gordon knows how to deliver as Jacquelina knuckles down to score by a head. It may not be the Derby, but it is exactly what was needed.
how is it an indictment? theres a million jokeys who get fewer rides than jogo, who seems like a good sort, but they dont appear in the paper. the headline is one unlikely to be used about a male journeyman. 'talented'. so are many who get fewer rides and no attention
Cheers Saxon, always wondered what happened to her to tail off so dramatically.
I think there was a time when she was still in demand when she took a holiday during the height of the flat season. Maybe those in the game took a dim view of it?
I think there was a time when she was still in demand when she took a holiday during the height of the flat season. Maybe those in the game took a dim view of it?
New order. If something doesn't go well for someone, it must be due to being an 'oppressed' minority. Never mind there will be hundreds of other successful apprentice jockeys over the years with a similar career arc, once they are competing with better jockeys at levels, and those who still have a claim.
Lol.
Not seen this "oppressed" minority narrative being applied here.
Being the 2nd woman to ride 100+ winners in a season, she's bound to attract more interest than a journeyman male jockey.
In any case, loads of them do similar interviews so can't really see yer point.
Not seen this "oppressed" minority narrative being applied here.
Being the 2nd woman to ride 100+ winners in a season, she's bound to attract more interest than a journeyman male jockey.
In any case, loads of them do similar interviews so can't really see yer point.
Reading some of these comments you would think there are numerous jockeys riding 100+ winners in a season. Did she ride all those winners in apprentice races?
Had she been related to AOB eg Anna O'Brien she'd be the top female jockey probably ahead of Doyle too. Nevertheless, the sudden out-of-favour pilot by her regular trainer-supporters can only be political, and not ability-wise.
Couldn't wait to get on the telly. She wasn't that good tbh but she did ride Newmarket well enough.
I think she's a good jockey and she will come back. A few more trainers are giving her a chance but she needs a big win to get the ball rolling. Yes, she does ride Newmarket well and she's very good round Lingfield on a front runner. Seasonal totals make her look average but it wasn't that long ago one F Dettori rode only 11 in a season before his resurrection.
Lol.
Not seen this "oppressed" minority narrative being applied here.
Being the 2nd woman to ride 100+ winners in a season, she's bound to attract more interest than a journeyman male jockey.
In any case, loads of them do similar interviews so can't really see yer point.
The inference here is obviously that she has been 'dropped' by the great and good due to being a female. Or are you going to try and pretend otherwise?
The sport is littered with successful apprentices that are either jobbing jocks or completely gone from the game. Which I suppose makes for a story and a questioning of the system that sees most of them fall off the cliff soon after their claim has gone. But it's nothing to do with which of the two versions of human genitals they've been born with. Not in this era anyway.
Not seen this "oppressed" minority narrative being applied here.
Being the 2nd woman to ride 100+ winners in a season, she's bound to attract more interest than a journeyman male jockey.
In any case, loads of them do similar interviews so can't really see yer point.
The inference here is obviously that she has been 'dropped' by the great and good due to being a female. Or are you going to try and pretend otherwise?
The sport is littered with successful apprentices that are either jobbing jocks or completely gone from the game. Which I suppose makes for a story and a questioning of the system that sees most of them fall off the cliff soon after their claim has gone. But it's nothing to do with which of the two versions of human genitals they've been born with. Not in this era anyway.
The article does not explain her fall from grace with Palmer.
At the time I heard the same as Wesdaq
At the time I heard the same as Wesdaq
a couple of minutes checking, here's just another one heading a similar way
dont include me in the oppressed camp
its just that its a positive advantage to be a female jokey as you get more fawning meeja attention, thats all. i dont think her drop off in rides is dissimilar to many others but dont know as i wouldnt know how to look it up
saleem golam was champion apprentice with aley turner and his rides dwindled away and he has given up. i have no idea about jokeys and wouldnt know a good ot bad one but its odds on if turner had sunk and golam cracked on it would have been a story but he wasnt
lizzie kelly was a bit of a story when she rode g1 winners but im told she wasnt very good. thers also a female trainer that tries to put up female jokeys if she can. i dont care. its her business. there are female only races. females get a handy allowance in france
its a positive boon to be a female rider, not whats been insinuated here. and if we are going to complain about lack of representation why are there no chinese, asian, etc riders? surely an indictment of racing? no it isnt
but if there were no lady riders it sure would be
its just that its a positive advantage to be a female jokey as you get more fawning meeja attention, thats all. i dont think her drop off in rides is dissimilar to many others but dont know as i wouldnt know how to look it up
saleem golam was champion apprentice with aley turner and his rides dwindled away and he has given up. i have no idea about jokeys and wouldnt know a good ot bad one but its odds on if turner had sunk and golam cracked on it would have been a story but he wasnt
lizzie kelly was a bit of a story when she rode g1 winners but im told she wasnt very good. thers also a female trainer that tries to put up female jokeys if she can. i dont care. its her business. there are female only races. females get a handy allowance in france
its a positive boon to be a female rider, not whats been insinuated here. and if we are going to complain about lack of representation why are there no chinese, asian, etc riders? surely an indictment of racing? no it isnt
but if there were no lady riders it sure would be
the jockey world is very fickle isn't it. They seem to get some grace immediately after the claim is gone, that's the trend. But then annual decline in many cases. We could even see 'Billy the kid' going the same way.
The inference here is obviously that she has been 'dropped' by the great and good due to being a female. Or are you going to try and pretend otherwise?
That's not the inference I got.
Was merely interested in what happened to her.
If being a woman was a massive hindrance, she wouldn't have ridden 100+ winners in a season in the first place.
Also being a woman hasn't done Hollie Doyle much harm thus far.
That's not the inference I got.
Was merely interested in what happened to her.
If being a woman was a massive hindrance, she wouldn't have ridden 100+ winners in a season in the first place.
Also being a woman hasn't done Hollie Doyle much harm thus far.
The article opens with how many females have had a ride in the derby. It's not an accident, the writer is pushing the reader that way.
Far more interesting is questioning the system itself, as people commit their lives to being a jockey and the apprentice system provides many of them with an elevated position/hope, but it's a false dawn in most cases. I don't have the answers, but it is a brutal system as new capable jockeys with claims will always come along. When they lose their claim they look like journeymen jockeys in the pack, as it's the weight advantage that's the differential, and not they are better than all the jockeys with no claims scratching around for mounts with good chances.
more nonsense from unbearable
women already have a weight advantage
why is it necessary to have more female riders? i doubt many people dont put up a female jockey because they dont like em. and even if they did, its up to them. what if there were more than the men. would there be a clamour for more male riders? and its not entirely fanciful that could happen in a few years with the way peoples weight is going.
women already have a weight advantage
why is it necessary to have more female riders? i doubt many people dont put up a female jockey because they dont like em. and even if they did, its up to them. what if there were more than the men. would there be a clamour for more male riders? and its not entirely fanciful that could happen in a few years with the way peoples weight is going.
Jun 3, 2024 -- 5:56PM, Cider wrote:
The article opens with how many females have had a ride in the derby. It's not an accident, the writer is pushing the reader that way.
You're letting your imagination run away with you.
The article is about her decline from looked at one point a very promising career.
I don't think anyone's pushing for women to ride in big races just because they're women.
It's all about merit from what I can see.
JG isn't playing the victim here.
I thought JG was John Gosden. I do not believe Ms Gordon could not have become a less good or bad jockey overnight. I think there is politic involved (not the biological-kind).
I mentioned earlier that I remember her taking a holiday during the busy part of the season. This was when she was highly rated.
Not much has happened for her since.
Coincidence?
Not much has happened for her since.
Coincidence?
I followed her career since her days as an apprentice to Stan Moore and I would agree with the view of wesdag on when the decline began.
i have siad article in front of me and unusually, have read it. racing post copy is unredable usually. she isnt playing the poor me card, nor is she saying its because shes female. and as ive stated earlier, she seems very nice, and now im convinced she is
iw ell remember cheering on jogo in them days in stanmore
but its ulikely any other jockey with a similar trajectroy would get 2 pages in the post, desperate rubbish though it is, hence my previous observations
iw ell remember cheering on jogo in them days in stanmore
but its ulikely any other jockey with a similar trajectroy would get 2 pages in the post, desperate rubbish though it is, hence my previous observations
Didn't Palmer make some comment about her taking that holiday?
Palmer? I'd not listen to him talk about horseracing even if I'm paid.
'kicked her out' 'by the sound of it'
rumour and innuendo increasing with repetition and soon will become fact
rumour and innuendo increasing with repetition and soon will become fact
To be clear, I'm not stating Gordon is claiming her lack of recent success/opportunities is due to being a female. However that's the underlying narrative of the piece, and some posters on here. There's nothing new here, relatively successful jockey goes out of fashion. Rinse and repeat.
I think Chapman ruined her career......she got big headed
....
....
Would you have her before Havlin? I most certainly would.
I would have her and any other jock before Havlin... but she pissed off on hols when wanted riding so c la vie ..
That wee Holiday Lester had in Norwich Prison never held him back to much either George.
Aye ..sounds harsh imo too but if ya know the man ya d know what follows shirley so why do it imv.. very odd..id keep rolling..i worked in Oz for 10 yr no hols so one yr ya could miss imv..
No holidays dont hold back the greats..when Osin burst on the scene thought he was the next tbh ..would love to see Billy the Kid get big rides this year to see what he cam do too :)
Billy did get a big ride - on Isle Of Jura - and look at what the clever little so-and-so did on it:
Towards rear, not clear run over 2f out, shaken up and stayed on from over 1f out, eyecatcher
https://www.racingpost.com/results/513/wolverhampton-aw/2023-06-26/842323
Towards rear, not clear run over 2f out, shaken up and stayed on from over 1f out, eyecatcher
https://www.racingpost.com/results/513/wolverhampton-aw/2023-06-26/842323
I had Gordon down on my 'black' list of jockeys personally - rode too many of 'those' type of rides. So no sympathy from me. whinging articles written about jockeys, really? Let's give a stuff about something that might matter in racing instead.
In horseracing its fraternity does not take kindly to "washing" dirty linen in public eg Ms Frost and Ms Gordon. Horseraing is a male dominated sport/profession and owner.
Mention here of dodgy rides etc and all down to jockeys it seems and the usual reluctance to blame trainers.
When jockeys Paul Doe and Greg Fairley were banned for 12 yrs the trainers were exonerated - it was the owners who were the culprits.
Jockey and trainer relationship is akin to upstairs downstairs in employment; upstairs will be ruling the roost, downstairs the coolies.
But, punters are above both in horseracing, and not held to ransom by these two entities. Here's hoping. Hence, utmost prudence and selective in betting are key qualities to minimise engineered manipulation of form.
But, punters are above both in horseracing, and not held to ransom by these two entities. Here's hoping. Hence, utmost prudence and selective in betting are key qualities to minimise engineered manipulation of form.
And we just don't know how well Tommo knows her mum........
Jun 4, 2024 -- 9:54PM, impossible123 wrote:
Who cares?
Clearly doesnt get the joke but feels the need to get involved anyway......
Very good on Raintown on Sat too. Needs more breaks.
Ms Gordon is a good jockey, and is Ms Turner. But, both need more support from trainers like Ms Osborne and Ms Doyle.
Gordon got help from boys in blue before saffie and Doyle were getting help from anybody
Something untoward happened when she was at Mr Palmer. She was doing so well until then.
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