Best jockey in national hunt

ft9

Since theres one for the worst, i think the best deserve their own thread

Tom Doyle for me. Honest, reliable, and talented. And a pure gentleman to say the least. Does not get the credit/rides he deserves imo.

So who's your top NH jock?

UrbanSea

Someone I'd like to see on any of my horses would be Paul Townend.

Adrian Heskin is a very good claimer.

ft9

Townend is talented alright Urban, great man in a tight finish

meath4sam

andrew lynch

Huntey

Timmy Murphy and Andrew Lynch would be my two favourites, top notch jockeys. Murphy is so fluid and almost moulds into the horse while Lynch has a phenomenal ability to tactically judge a race.

slaneylad

Ruby walsh is the best jockey end of storey. Especially on the big days, cant wait for cheltenham

UrbanSea

It helps when you're on the best horses.

mattser

A young 16 year old in England called Brendan Powell Jnr is claiming 7 and picking up a nice few winners.

Son of Brendan Snr, G.N. winning rider.

Those in the know reckon he's going to be tops.

Huntey

mattser wrote: »

A young 16 year old in England called Brendan Powell Jnr is claiming 7 and picking up a nice few winners.

Son of Brendan Snr, G.N. winning rider.

Those in the know reckon he's going to be tops.

Seems far too premature to be suggesting how good a jockey will be. Aidan Coleman looked like he was going to be class and he turned out very average.

ft9

slaneylad wrote: »

Ruby walsh is the best jockey end of storey. Especially on the big days, cant wait for cheltenham

This I would agree with. I say 'best' jockey in thread title, I suppose what I meant is your 'favourite jockey' or under rated jockey.

UrbanSea wrote: »

It helps when you're on the best horses.

A lot of people argue this point about Ruby Urban, but in fairness the man is supremely talented, not many have the same ability imo. He does not get the best horses for the crack or anything, its purely because he's the best.

UrbanSea

There are still some I'd have ahead of him 9.

ForzaKid

Martin Ferris would be 1 of my favourite,however he is mostly on the outsiders..

Bryan Cooper would also be 1 of my Fave jockeys too,He knows when a horse is struggling and needs to go under the pump to accelerate..


Best jockey though for me is Paul Carberry,Full of confidence when infront with a few furlongs to go and relaxes the punter especially if its a Fav..

Caveman1

Paddy Brennan is great jockey IMO, Sam twiston-Davies and James Revelrey are two young lads who will ride lots of winners aswell very talented lads

mountai

Townend by a mile. See the way he closed Ruby down today -- Genious for a young jockey . Never abuses a horse and is like a statue on board, but knows how to get a reluctant horse into a race effortlessly . Also never Flash unlike PC

Huntey

mountai wrote: »

Also never Flash unlike PC

Really?

Did you not see his ride on Mikael D'Haguenet a few weeks back? For what it is worth Paul Carberry is the most naturally gifted jockey around.

Townend is a very good jockey but certainly not the best by a mile.

mountai

Sorry . But I dont understand your point about Townends performance on MD ?? So he was headed after the last , but got up to win EAISLY going away without whipping the horse ---- Whats wrong with that?? Proves my point surely. Was"nt a short head finish either. I remember Carberry riding Harchibald in the CH . It was said that, if the horse was whipped, he would stop. He whipped the lard out of him in a subsequent race in Kempton and won no bother .
Compare Townends stats to Carberrys and tell me he is not as good.The figures dont lie.

Huntey

mountai wrote: »

Also never Flash unlike PC

mountai wrote: »

Sorry . But I dont understand your point about Townends performance on MD ?? So he was headed after the last , but got up to win EAISLY going away without whipping the horse ---- Whats wrong with that?? Proves my point surely. Was"nt a short head finish either. Compare Townends stats to Carberrys and tell me he is not as good.The figures dont lie.

No it contradicts your point.

You said Townend is never flashy, do you not think his ride on MD was flashy? It certainly was.

mountai wrote: »

Compare Townends stats to Carberrys and tell me he is not as good.The figures dont lie.

What relevance do stats have to what I said? I merely stated that Carberry is the most naturally gifted jockey around. Statistics won't confirm or deny this viewpoint.

mountai wrote: »

I remember Carberry riding Harchibald in the CH . It was said that, if the horse was whipped, he would stop. He whipped the lard out of him in a subsequent race in Kempton and won no bother .

It was actually mentioned that the horse didn't like to hit the front too soon and would benefit from staying on the bridle as long as possible. A bit of a difference to being "whipped" as you said.

Don't you remember his next race at Punchestown after the Champion Hurdle when he cruised into the lead and when Carberry asked him to go on he emptied pretty quickly? What is to suggest that he wouldn't have done the same on the hill if he was asked to push on earlier in the Champion Hurdle?

I presume you are talking about the Christmas Hurdle of 2008, and probably need to watch the race again if you think he "won no bother". Harch was on the bridle coming to the last when Snap Tie and Blue Bajan were both under heavy drives. Harchibald took up the lead before he jumped it and won by 3 parts of a length, far from winning "no bother" and Carberry certainly didn't "whip the lard out of him".

He really should have won by more that day the way he travelled but Harchibald just wasn't a horse who found much off the bridle, and there is countless evidence to suggest that.

mountai

No it contradicts your point. : How ???

You said Townend is never flashy, do you not think his ride on MD was flashy? It certainly was : What was flashy about it ???

As for Harchibald, there was never a debate about his reluctance to go on under the whip BEFORE the CH. How many times was he whipped after the last in Kempton.??

solerina

Paul Carberry as far as Im concerned, Ruby is very hard on horses (i know quite a few trainers who wouldnt take a present of him on their horses)

Sultan of Bling

mountai wrote: »

No it contradicts your point. : How ???

You said Townend is never flashy, do you not think his ride on MD was flashy? It certainly was : What was flashy about it ???

As for Harchibald, there was never a debate about his reluctance to go on under the whip BEFORE the CH. How many times was he whipped after the last in Kempton.??

In the County Hurdle the year before CH, he was cruising when taking the lead before the last. Carberry hit the button and he blundered the last. There were stories of a bust up between Carberry and Noel Meade after the race over Carberry going too early.

Huntey

You have failed to answer my questions but I will try to simplify things for you.

mountai wrote: »

No it contradicts your point. : How ???

You said Townend is never flashy, do you not think his ride on MD was flashy? It certainly was : What was flashy about it ???

I'm not sure are you genuinely serious or do you have a different definition of a flashy/cheeky ride?

Townend barely moved a muscle and let the horse win almost on the bridle. Do you not consider that a flashy ride?

mountai wrote: »

As for Harchibald, there was never a debate about his reluctance to go on under the whip BEFORE the CH. How many times was he whipped after the last in Kempton.??

It may not have been evident to you but no doubt Carberry knew the horse better than anyone and rode the horse the way he felt would give him the best chance of winning, by keeping him on the bridle for as long as possible.

It is blatantly obvious that Harchibald never found much off the bridle and if you think otherwise you simply haven't a clue.

mountai

"Townend barely moved a muscle and let the horse win almost on the bridle. Do you not consider that a flashy ride?"


No I dont consider it flashy, as he won going away with ease, had
confidence in his ability to get the horse over the line without abusing it.


"It is blatantly obvious that Harchibald never found much off the bridle and if you think otherwise you simply haven't a clue."


He found enough that day in Kempton, I had him backed at 8/1 --- Yes you are right ---- I haven"t a clue

---

!!!!

Huntey

mountai wrote: »

No I dont consider it flashy, as he won going away with ease, had
confidence in his ability to get the horse over the line without abusing it.

It was a flashy ride from Townend and any horseman will tell you as much.

mountai wrote: »

He found enough that day in Kempton, I had him backed at 8/1

Than I'm sure you realised that he could have won by further the way he travelled but just never found much off the bridle.

Harchibald needed to be kept on the bridle for as long as possible to show his best form and that should be clear to anyone who has half a knowledge about the sport.

flutered

slaneylad wrote: »

Ruby walsh is the best jockey end of storey. Especially on the big days, cant wait for cheltenham

especially after what young townsend did to him today.

Huntey

flutered wrote: »

especially after what young townsend did to him today.

What did Townend do specifically to Ruby Walsh today?

This thread should probably be in the horse racing section, might get some half decent discussion there aswell.

ft9

ft9 wrote: »

................


A lot of people argue this point about Ruby Urban, but in fairness the man is supremely talented, not many have the same ability imo. He does not get the best horses for the crack or anything, its purely because he's the best.

But sure lots of people come out with the he rides the best horses because he's the best. So when McCoy was riding for Martin Pipe was McCoy the best?

You said yourself not many have the same ability, to me that suggests that a few others do

These sort of threads are somewhat too general anyway, you wouldn't want the same jockey on a horse in a 3 mile chase that needs plenty of space jumping and can't be ridden from the front and on a horse that needs to be ridden hard for most of a 2 mile hurdle on heavy ground.

Personally I think there's little between Ruby, McCoy, Carberry, Murphy and Johnson. Each have their strong points then which makes them more suitable for certain races or types of horses.

For instance McCoy's ride on Sir Frosty against Baracouda, how many jockeys would have pulled that off? Would another jockey have won on Harchibald in Cheltenham 2005? Does Kato be happiest with Ruby in the saddle etc etc etc

Personally I really like McCoy and Paul Carberry.

mountai

Huntey

I find it strange that you ask "what did Townend do to Ruby" when you acknowledge his efforts in another post.

I find it arrogant that you correct another posters spelling.


Thankfully i know nothing

Huntey

mountai wrote: »

Huntey

I find it strange that you ask "what did Townend do to Ruby" when you acknowledge his efforts in another post.

Townend rode a perfect race and I've said as much but what did he do to Ruby Walsh? Maybe you could tell me if you think it was strange me asking?

mountai wrote: »

I find it arrogant that you correct another posters spelling.

I wasn't correcting his spelling, merely highlighting that his name is Paul Townend and not Townsend incase the poster thought otherwise.

mountai wrote: »

Thankfully I know nothing.

That is from your own admission, but if you put together a half decent response to my posts in regards to Harchibald/Carberry then we might get somewhere instead of dragging this off-topic.

flutered

Huntey wrote: »

What did Townend do specifically to Ruby Walsh today?

did you not see the race from a non blinkered point of view, please have a look at the race again, then have a look at the replays of the race from before they started to turn into the straight to the last, ruby gave a mighty performence on kato star at kempton, then last runs jockey spent christmas day without eating he also spent the day worrying about the race, he was a bundle of nerves christmas day and night, this would have helped turn the tide a little.

Huntey

flutered wrote: »

especially after what young townsend did to him today.

flutered wrote: »

did you not see the race from a non blinkered point of view, please have a look at the race again, then have a look at the replays of the race from before they started to turn into the straight to the last, ruby gave a mighty performence on kato star at kempton, then last runs jockey spent christmas day without eating he also spent the day worrying about the race, he was a bundle of nerves christmas day and night, this would have helped turn the tide a little.

I can barely comprehend the junk you have posted but it bears no relevance to what I asked you.

You said Townend did something to Ruby Walsh. What did he do?

flutered

Huntey wrote: »

I can barely comprehend the junk you have posted but it bears no relevance to what I asked you.

You said Townend did something to Ruby Walsh. What did he do?

pleas check out the race, as i have requested you to do, from before the turn into the straight to the last hurdle, is that so hard for you to do, or could it be that you do not want to read the ovbious

ft9

On the final bend Townend landed up beside Ruby, boxing him in behind the leader, holding him there.

Ruby basically had to pull up Thousand Stars to get out for a run, loosing a few lengths.

Had Ruby not had got boxed in on the rail by Townend, Thousand Stars wins imo.

A fantastic piece of riding from Townend, a magnificent talent.

UrbanSea

Quite true 9. Nothing illegal about it,just great riding.

Heffernan did it in the Irish 2000 Guineas this year. Mick Kinane did it in the Lonsdale Cup a few years ago but got well beaten,still stopped Moore getting a winner if my memory serves me right

flutered

i wonder will the op believe this.

flutered

flutered wrote: »

i wonder will the op believe this.

Presumably he will as the OP is ft9

Personally I think Thousand Stars wouldn't have won anyway.

flutered

RoverJames wrote: »

Presumably he will as the OP is ft9

Personally I think Thousand Stars wouldn't have won anyway.

i was referring to boards user name huntey

mattser

mattser wrote: »

A young 16 year old in England called Brendan Powell Jnr is claiming 7 and picking up a nice few winners.

Son of Brendan Snr, G.N. winning rider.

Those in the know reckon he's going to be tops.

2 rides today.....2wins. 9/2 and 25/1. was on both e.w.

He has 30 something winners, and is 17 years old tomorrow.

They all need luck, but this guy is star material.

finbarrk

Yeah, he is flying. Great article about him in this weeks Field.

UrbanSea

There was a lad in my year in school Derek Fox he doesn't get too many rides now but he's a good rider. I'm not sure who he's with now but he used to ride for Charles Byrnes.

His younger brother Stephen is over in Lucinda Russel's yard last I heard.

Luke McNiff is a cousin of their's. He's not a bad 5 pound claimer over with David Baron, he primarily rode over jumps before that