STRANGE things happen in horse racing and you learn valuable lessons.
Thursday proved to be eventful for me riding at two tracks, picking up a fine and then a winner which was helpful to pay it.
Last week I wrote about how difficult it can be travelling on a Bank Holiday weekend. Traffic jams and stress bother jockeys, who are dashing around the country. That is what I did on Thursday; I won’t be doing it again for a while.
I had runners on the cards at Worcester and Wetherby. I ended up finishing at Worcester and then headed for Wetherby. We didn’t give ourselves enough time in a bit of a mix up so I ended up missing my first two rides which was a disappointment.
That led to a £140 fine which was annoying and it was turning into a tough day before I had a 16/1 winner for Jo Foster. That success on Craigdancer was a good end to a demanding day. I won’t be attempting to do that type of travelling again anytime soon.
When you’re rushing things just seem to conspire against you and that was the case. The journey should have taken me about two and a half hours, but it ended up being just over three so that led to some problems.
At least I had a winner for Jo Foster – that gave me a bit of a boost. It had been a mad scramble to get there. It was worth it in the end and it helped pay the fine. That was a good thing about it all.
Even when I eventually arrived at Wetherby I didn’t have a great start. I fell on board Stentorian at the second which was a pity, but I won for Jo Foster beating the favourite in a good finish. Looking back I should have just went to Wetherby for five or six rides and not bothered with Worcester, but you live and you learn.
That was my real joy last week because it is a particularly quiet time at the moment. These weeks are very hard. You’re always trying to do your best; you are riding out at different yards. That can be useful.
I even spoke to my flat agent before the weekend to ask him if there were any spare rides going, but that didn’t work out. At the moment the amount of talented jockeys is staggering and everyone is looking to do their best.
That is what I will keep trying to do, but I think I’ll resist the temptation to hit two meetings in the one day for a while at least.
Selections:
Friday
Epsom 4.30 Lady of Dubai (e-way)
Saturday
Epsom 4.30 Golden Horn
Market Rasen 4.10 Kodicil
