Nico DB - Time for the owners to step in.

Newmarket  spurs, just out of interest,  have you ridden many winners  ?

Why do Ruby, AP, Nicky H, etc all say how good he is and what a good ride he has given something, when they are discussing his riding on tv ?

So if you are correct, is it because you know more than them ?

Top jocks and top trainers are all wrong and Newmarket spurs is right . Not very likely is it ?

have you ridden many winners?

Not necessary to have ridden winners to accurately assess a jockey's ability relative to their peers, once they've had a large number of rides.

Whitley Ratings, for example.

Some on here, wondersobright, for example. I don't know how exactly they compile their stats (actual over expected, for example?), but they could probably give you a good statistically- based assessment of a jockey's ability.

Jockey X must be good cuz so and so says so, stands to reason dunnit?

or

Jockey X must be good or else trainer X wouldn't use him, stands to reason dunnit?

Anyway, how many winners have you ridden, eh?

Take for example, Tom Queally, someone on here argued that he must be a good jockey because he was employed by Barney Curley and Sir Henry Cecil.

Well, where were all the top job offers for Queally, who in age terms was at the peak of his career, when Lady Cecil gave up the licence?

When the Abdullah job came up, where they banging on Queally's door, after all, he rode Frankel?

No, was it James Doyle who got the job around that time?

They even had mick Fitzgerald as stable jockey once upon a time, how bad was he.

George , I asked how many winners he has ridden to pit it into some sort of perspective as it is v easy to criticise...
Yes his stats are bang on. 308-242-1321 (23%) exp 310, so exactly bang on the money with his rides for Nicky.

Sadliers , yes pundits very rarely criticise a ride but they all quite regularly praise nicos rides. A lot of being a jockey is about making the right choices in a race in fraction of a second and making the least amount of mistakes and if the horse is good enough he nearly always puts it in a place it can win from and is uncomplicated in doing so.

G Hall, bad jocks don't win gold cups and grand nationals. They could maybe get lucky in one, but not win both.

with jockeys certain forumites see what they think is a bad ride(it may have been we all have off days or things don't go right every time) often one they have backed and it sticks in their mind and they start studying the rides of that jock and they are looking for reasons to be critical often focusing solely on the jockey and virtually ignoring any other jocks in the race, it becomes a bit of an obsession and they are looking for any so called  mistakes especially when the jockey is beaten on a fancied un!

Storm alert, hardly - AP employed JP and who does NB ride jonbon for ?

I agree with you Foyles. It's not all about driving one home in a finish and people  being impressed with a strong ride.
But It's about the 1000 other little bits that get to that situation and NB might not be the strongest / most stylish .. but he puts the horse into that winning position time and time again without much effort.

That's why he's good enough for nicky and JP and most of the senior jocks all jealous of him riding at Hendos with the good horses.
Is he the best jockey riding in the UK ? No.
But as a jockey he probably has the no 1 plum job in the UK.

to be fair to deck 2  1 to 2 shots inside 24 hrs who,ve never fallen in their lifes before  ,should get Nico in the all time history books

what about the ride on jango baie ?  many would have given up on that as said swings and roundabouts ,every race is different, pace ,tactical positioning and luck  etc .

the best jockeys make the least mistakes  , I was always confident if Mick kinane was riding one I backed ,very rarly had a  fancied horse in the wrong posi I'm.

You could question Nico's frame of mind prior to the race, because he was getting stroppy with JJ Slevin down at the start when they went to have a look at the fence, and then he used the f-word when presumably he was aware he might be being filmed as Luke Harvey and a camera were there.

When they jumped off he was already in a less-than-ideal position as he was racing wide off the rail and thus covering more ground than those to his inner. I don't recall seeing Ruby Walsh in that position on a hot favourite in a championship race.

the arkle ride like some of Bowens this season getting MSM/pundits  bedwetting are the easiest rides to have,your horse is going as fast as it can go,all you've got to do is keep pushing it no decisions to make

George, yes it helps if the OP has ridden winners before making his original statement . Hence why I asked it.

For an armchair jockey sitting at home criticising , let's use jonbons race yesterday as an example.
O look at nico, he effed it up, got left at the start and was in the wrong place in the race bla bla bla .. yes ?

Well had the op ridden some winners then he would have some experience of the subject and be able to voice an opinion based on knowledge not what sitting in an armchair gives you.

When at the start there is a scrum for the inside rail , some come in faster than others , some jostle and bang into you trying to grab a more favoured position.
Some horses are wound up - like jonbon so don't need any extra hassles to blow them up. When the starter doesn't let you go, he shouts at all the jocks to take a turn, but you are scared to take a turn, in case you are the only one who turns all the way round and he let's them go with you facing the wrong way.
Ot happens. A lot.

This is just one 30 seconds scenario that you have to deal with to try and manage the bestvway you can , and it's not like driving a car where you put it into gear and release the clutch and the same thing happens every time. You are dealing with an  unpredictable animal which goes one way and then the other and you have to try to keep it calm yet anticipate the start or else you are on the back foot.

Go and do it, then the Op has earnt the right to come back and criticise. It's not always possible to get the best start. It happens. It's racing.


All you can do is put your horse in the best position and hope everything else lines up .

how many has Buckley got running this week at chelt one ?

ONETEN..... I always think this is the most ridiculous argument 'how many winners have you ridden'? Does this mean that nobody on this forum can voice an opinion unless they were a former jockey?
Do you think all pundits agree? Plenty of those haven't ridden any winners. The former jump jockeys never criticise other jockeys which is unfortunate and many of them are all mates.
If you have watched as much racing as I have and I'm sure many on this forum have then I think I can form an opinion based on facts.
There are so many jockeys I rate highly but Nico is not one of them. Not good tactically, pacing races, weak in a finish. The evidence is bloody obvious when you watch him compared to Townsend, Sam TD, Cobden etc. Henderson needs much better.

Yes 1tp , but legging up jerry is the same as gosden legging up rab . No 2 riding to orders.

NDB confidence will have obviously taken a knock

Ruby was critical of him on Jonbon , said he put the horse on the tape

Oneten the OP has an unhealthy fixation with NDB and wrong imo as I have said many times, the facts and stats prove different. On the other hand he is right in terms of not needing to have ridden a horse never mind ridden winners to give an opinion.

You are being patronising and making assumptions to big yourself up i.e you opined on a race using a 4" screen and lectured others on why they were wrong when in fact you were the one who was wrong. Also claimed to be able to read the mind of a horse, never heard so much BS.