Jockey bashers/pocket talkers

Been happening since day one tbh…nothing will ever…

Gravy train will scream and swear inwardly but probably call the rider all the w@nkers under the sun tbh…..

How about you back the right horse in the race that

What a load of rubbish. There are just as many apologists on here. I am sure many argue the opposite just for the sake of it.

Pocket talking the most over used 'excuse' on here. Usually by people with no argument whatsoever. It's little more than a cheapshot. At least if you have backed the horse you will have watched the race. How do you know if someone has actually backed a horse?

The question to ask is why the need? The answer is very simple to understand. Nobody in the media is calling anything out. If you just want bland cheerleading just watch all the racing channels because that is all you will get.

Bad rides are the scourge of punters. If you want to just turn a blind eye that's your choice, as it is for anyone calling them out.

It might be the most over used phrase but on 90% of posts made straight after the race it is correct, there are plenty to see every day. There are 10% though that do make very good points about what actually happened and what was wrong with the ride and worth the read.

There are plenty bad rides, there are plenty "not today" rides - it's all part of the reality of horse racing.

The real mystery (imo) is how nobody that posts regularly about them (after the race) is ever on the receiving end of them. i.e. Having a lucky" winner that should not really have won, if it weren't for all the terrible rides given to the others in the race.

It is a double-edged sword.

The gravy train says every losing ride is beyond reproach, and every winning ride brilliant.

Pocket talkers say every losing ride is bendy, and every winning ride must have been bendy last time out to get its mark down or its price up.

This happens in no other sport. In football, if an attempt on goal goes wide, or is saved, or hits the woodwork, fans do not say the striker took a bung to miss. If a penalty is scored, fans do not claim the goalkeeper was paid to dive the wrong way. The role of chance is not underestimated: good luck and more often bad.

But equally, pundits are free to call out bad passes or weak shots. No football pundit speaks of Jack Taylor in the same breath as Lionel Messi.

And so we are where we are. The media needs to realise they are not helping racing or even jockeys in the long term by failure to discriminate, failure to call out mistakes or (more often) rational decisions at the time (eg go up the inside rail) that turn out bad (no gap appears). And pocket talkers do not improve their own punting by not looking for what factors they might have missed. I chose the right horse but the toerag on top ballsed things up.

As for jockeys, the number who have joined the media show that just as not all good footballers make good managers, there are a good many jockeys who have no idea on race-reading or tactics. For every Ruby Walsh, well, you get the picture.

Why are all other athletes football players golfers tennis players allowed to be freely criticised yet jockeys arent? Its sport and discussion is par for course. The reason i can see is media never criticise them. And that sets a narrative of non criticism

Half of England still give Pearce and Co pelters lol…..ffs

kenbo - I think you're missing the point - people don't just spout about a losing bet, it is about the nature of the ride of course.

If a financial advisor ripped you off, would you just say, oh well it was probably a mistake they made? Course not. So no reason same credit should be given to a jockey deliberately doing their job wrong.

Of course we can debate whether it was 'deliberate' or not - but to say there could be no debate, is basically wrong.

In any other form of finance and theft, it would be criminal, but seems jockeys/trainers are mostly an exempt case if committing fraud.

You could send a whole catalogue of bent rides to the BHA integrity dept, they have zero interest in identifying any foul play, pretty much the same with the entire gravy train. With racing's share of the betting market in sharp decline that's not a surprise. Aside from the bad image, the cost of building a case beyond doubt is prohibitive. Just look at the FA and the Paqueta farce, that's been running for months despite the FA's considerable wealth, still no sign of an outcome.

Been an Increase in Bishop Bashers on the Forum in the last few weeks ..

I’m not missing any point, Stu. A short priced favourite loses and the same old clowns on here pop up straight after the race with the usual spiel, ‘the worst ride you will ever see’, ‘it’s b3nt’ or ‘the drift told us’, . Most of the time the horse was beat fair and square.

When a bad ride or a b3nt ride genuinely happens, three or four threads will pop up instantly. There’s usually something to see then imo. You can dismiss any thread from, Jinxy, Big Muff, De-Moan, Racing6969, 1830, etc as pocket talking. I saw you and Duffy posted about the same jockey yesterday. I didn’t see the ride but as neither of you cry wolf on here I expect there was definitely something to see there.

The lack of self respect still staggers me now.

Yes, and the man doing it inwardly is the only one out of the three with any self respect!

The most boring thing with gambling is listening to others telling you about their near misses/bad luck stories.

I've stated numerous times i've waited 20yrs for someone to post responsibility and confess to backing the wrong horse , no luck as yet.

Not holding my breath for either Mics or De_Man to bail me out     

There is a correlation with fav/shortie backers imo.

For one thing there are more eyes/scrutiny on them - but people that bet based on prices, as well as being much more likely to win, are also much more likely to have taken into account that a lot of things need to come together and go right, for any horse to win any race. Betting short prices or favs is no guarantee of all those things coming together nicely in something as complex as a horse race with all of it's variables.

I think people having a punt on a 50/1 poke (that they think should be 25/1) probably get that - and roll with the punches. Fav backers (in my experience) are backing what they think ought to happen (on paper in a perfect world) and still have trouble understanding why the fav doesn't win every race.

Too many pundits give jockeys the benefit of the doubt. One of the biggest **** ups ever was Dettori on Stradivarius in the Ascot Gold Cup. He rode a bad race in 2021 and then totally repeated it the following year. You could see it coming like a train crash but the ITV gang gave him an easy time. That horse should've been a five-time Gold Cup winner but jockey error prevented it.

Apart from American racing…..

think Buick lost on 11 shorties in 2 days at Newmarket last year.  can James beat that ?