Pendleton Yay or Nay?

kksaints

It was announced yesterday that Victora Pendleton will be riding in the Foxhunter on Pacha Du Polder. I am curious to see what peoples view on this are as some people see quite against it.

Personally I dont see it being a massive issue as the foxhunters often has low quality jockeys and horses in it which rarely seem to cause problems. She will more than likely be given instructions to stay wide and out of trouble and while her performance in her first race was poor enough, she was much better at Wincanton. In England it has led to some decent publicity and is a boost to the foxhunters which is often a forgotten race.

While she wont win I hope the horse starts and both get around safely.

Wicklow Brave

No one really knows her in Ireland. What she's achieved in such a short space of time is incredible. I have no interest in hunter Chases myself personally and I won't even have a bet in the race I'd say so if I don't have a bet, I hope she wins. Id love it if she won actually.

mdwexford

I had to google her to see who she was when her name popped up here the other day.

If she wants to try her hand as a jockey then why not.

There is huge media followings about her riding exploits in the UK. This publicity can be good for horse racing's image and possibly get others into the sport.


My fear however, is that she has a serious fall or causes a serious fall to other jockeys. Yes, this could happen to other jockeys, but with the public spotlight on her the whole thing could blow up in the BHAs face. That wouldn't be good for racing.

Shemale

I think its plain wrong, for a publicity stunt to take a gold cup ride off an amateur who has been riding all their life.

She is a danger to herself and other jockeys and the horses.

It makes light of the efforts put in by jockeys that you can wake up, decide to be a jockey and in 12 months you can simply ride in a gold cup.

The ordinary punter who doesnt watch racing might have a punt on her have done their money already as she is just out for a spin.

What next 3 years of Gok training and then riding in the Gold Cup, it isnt going to make a jot of difference to the sport.

D9Male

It isn't the Gold Cup.

It is the Foxhunters' Chase.

I admire her for giving it a go. I wouldn't put her up on my horse if it had a sniff in Cheltenham. But surely if people have an issue with Pendleton riding on safety grounds, they should have an issue with most point-to-point jockeys riding in hunter chases in Britain? Some are even more inexperienced than her.

Maybe I am biased as I had a serious crush on her years ago.

Gregk961

She has won a race already, that puts her riding achievements above half of the jockeys that will be riding in the race. On safety grounds it's no more dangerous than your average amateur. There's plenty of people who don't deserve a Cheltenham ride in that race, she just happens to be famous.

kfallon

Did they omit 4 fences in the race that she won 2 weeks ago?

D9Male

Gregk961 wrote: »

She has won a race already, that puts her riding achievements above half of the jockeys that will be riding in the race. On safety grounds it's no more dangerous than your average amateur. There's plenty of people who don't deserve a Cheltenham ride in that race, she just happens to be famous.

Exactly.

king Henry 14

There was was calls during the week to move the time of the fox hunters so there would be more of a focus on Pendleton. That's an absolute joke. Let the girl ride in the race but let's not make the whole festival about her. The festival is the big thing here and not any one individual.

Shemale

D9Male wrote: »

It isn't the Gold Cup.

It is the Foxhunters' Chase.

Foxhunters is the amateurs gold cup.

kfallon

She'll go off in front, be gone by the 2nd or 3rd fence, come back in say it was all a fantastic experience, big thanks to all who supported her and then it'll be all over!

Mostly Harmless

It's an amazing story, she has achieved a massive amount in a short space of time, she shows huge enthusiasm for the game, is incredibly eloquent when interviewed and genuinely seems to love what she is doing. This is a massive advertisement for the game at a time when it is struggling massively for mainstream appeal (and when finding stable staff is harder than ever) - how anyone could see the whole "project" as anything other than a huge positive is beyond me.

She won't be the least capable rider in the Foxhunters anyway and anyone clinging onto a notion that racing is some sort of meritocracy needs to wake up. The same old insular attitudes against outsiders who don't have a "racing background", IMO she has done more to promote racing to a wider audience than the usual Tom, Dick or Tarquin's have done in the last 12 years!

More power to her I say.

sting60

When Betfair have thrown 250k at this PR stunt to pay Lawney Hill,Pendleton,Breisner plus Nicholls who has a separate contract and Attheraces who have a vested interest will they hide if she's hurt.She has fallen off on the flat twice, unseated etc.Hope to see her going for a gap between Jamie Codd,Nina,Derek O Connor that would be worth watching.This race is the next race after the Gold Cup and the English are unfortunately going to dilute the Gold Cup in favour of this absolute crap.

NaiveMelodies

It's great and fair fcuks to her. A great publicity stunt by betfair too.

Are any racing fans going to all of a sudden lend more importance to the Foxhunters ahead of the Gold Cup?
Most definitely not.

kfallon

Mostly Harmless wrote: »

It's an amazing story, she has achieved a massive amount in a short space of time, she shows huge enthusiasm for the game, is incredibly eloquent when interviewed and genuinely seems to love what she is doing. This is a massive advertisement for the game at a time when it is struggling massively for mainstream appeal

Would you nearly go so far as to say it's massive?

diomed

I'd put it up there with best dressed lady and bouncy castles. It might add a few to the gate, but it will not improve racing.

chinguetti

No problem with her per se but do have a problem how its turned into a stunt by Betfair: an amateur race for amateurs has one rider being paid to take part.

The debate over whether she would be allowed ride in it too was a joke, she was always going to ride in it after they pumping all that money into it.

Mostly Harmless

As expected several seem to be missing the point entirely.

Anything that gives racing positive coverage in the mainstream media has to be encouraged to the maximum. That's the beginning and the end of it.

chinguetti

Mostly Harmless wrote: »

As expected several seem to be missing the point entirely.

Anything that gives racing positive coverage in the mainstream media has to be encouraged to the maximum. That's the beginning and the end of it.

Not missing the point but if she falls off on the flat or gets injured in a fall, it will look all a bit silly and the cry will be 'what were people thinking?'.

Also and going a bit off topic, I'm always baffled over why racing has a mad rush to best dressed ladies day/concerts/daft ideas to draw in the crowds and get publicity. The vast members of these folk spend all day in the bar/restaurant, never see a horse and have no interest in racing at all and won't be back until they get another free day out.

The racecourses/sponsors would be better off giving the free tickets to regular racegoers or discounted entry and provide decent food at a decent price. This would have a better chance of increasing racing's profile long term and not just for a couple of days.

Gregk961

chinguetti wrote: »

Not missing the point but if she falls off on the flat or gets injured in a fall, it will look all a bit silly and the cry will be 'what were people thinking?'.

Also and going a bit off topic, I'm always baffled over why racing has a mad rush to best dressed ladies day/concerts/daft ideas to draw in the crowds and get publicity. The vast members of these folk spend all day in the bar/restaurant, never see a horse and have no interest in racing at all and won't be back until they get another free day out.

The racecourses/sponsors would be better off giving the free tickets to regular racegoers or discounted entry and provide decent food at a decent price. This would have a better chance of increasing racing's profile long term and not just for a couple of days.

Racing fans can't fill a stand unfortunately, no matter how big of a discount you give them. Sure you have thousands of punters flocking to Cheltenham but the 360 odd days of the year it's people who don't particularly care for the sport who pay the bills.

Shemale

Mostly Harmless wrote: »

As expected several seem to be missing the point entirely.

Anything that gives racing positive coverage in the mainstream media has to be encouraged to the maximum. That's the beginning and the end of it.

Everyone that knows me, knows I am a huge racing fan, now guess how many people have talked to me about it, asked me about it or I have heard talking about it?
NONE

Roll the clock forward to 4:20 next Friday, God forbid if any jockey or horse gets injured or worse in the race and it's her fault what do you think will happen? The animal rights loons will have more ammo than ever to attack the sport, then the BHA make more changes like reducing the fences to 2 foot and putting a row of plastic cups down for hurdles.

The whole thing is a Betfair publicity stunt and a farce and it could cause serious harm to the sport, horses and jockeys.

And if she is getting paid why the **** was she given an amateur licence?

Wicklow Brave

Shemale wrote: »

Mostly Harmless wrote: »

As expected several seem to be missing the point entirely.

Anything that gives racing positive coverage in the mainstream media has to be encouraged to the maximum. That's the beginning and the end of it.

Everyone that knows me, knows I am a huge racing fan, now guess how many people have talked to me about it, asked me about it or I have heard talking about it?
NONE

Roll the clock forward to 4:20 next Friday, God forbid if any jockey or horse gets injured or worse in the race and it's her fault what do you think will happen? The animal rights loons will have more ammo than ever to attack the sport, then the BHA make more changes like reducing the fences to 2 foot and putting a row of plastic cups down for hurdles.

The whole thing is a Betfair publicity stunt and a farce and it could cause serious harm to the sport, horses and jockeys.

And if she is getting paid why the **** was she given an amateur licence?

I presume you live in Ireland though so it's hardly surprising that no one has mentioned this to you. Most Irish people have never heard of her I'd imagine. Most Irish people have probably never even heard of Willie Mullins either so it's not saying much. She's a British Olympic Champion riding in a huge racing event held in Britain. This will attract a lot of attention in... you guessed it... Britain. FWIW two or three have actually mentioned it to me.

''...and it's her fault'' ??? As opposed to something happening to a jockey or horse that isn't her fault? No one will give a sh*t then is it? An accident can happen in any race.

DJIMI TRARORE

She"s a qualified amateur jockey in an amateur race against other amateur jockeys. 100% entitled to go for it and just shows what people can achieve when they put their minds to it. If she has an accident she accepts the results like all the rest of the jockeys,both pros and partime

Shemale

Wicklow Brave wrote: »

I presume you live in Ireland though so it's hardly surprising that no one has mentioned this to you. Most Irish people have never heard of her I'd imagine.
.

I do live in Ireland, but its not like there is no sports reporting, English news or media available. She has gold medals from two olympics, a number of world championships, she was awarded a peerage and is very much one of Englands sporting darlings and has been all over papers and tv for years.

Wicklow Brave wrote: »

Most Irish people have probably never even heard of Willie Mullins either so it's not saying much.

Of course they have

Wicklow Brave wrote: »

''...and it's her fault'' ??? As opposed to something happening to a jockey or horse that isn't her fault? No one will give a sh*t then is it? An accident can happen in any race.

You have completely missed the point, if she is not involved in an incident it will be in the back pages as normal, however if she is involved..... you guessed it..... it will be all over the papers.

Mostly Harmless

Shemale wrote: »

Everyone that knows me, knows I am a huge racing fan, now guess how many people have talked to me about it, asked me about it or I have heard talking about it?
NONE

Roll the clock forward to 4:20 next Friday, God forbid if any jockey or horse gets injured or worse in the race and it's her fault what do you think will happen? The animal rights loons will have more ammo than ever to attack the sport, then the BHA make more changes like reducing the fences to 2 foot and putting a row of plastic cups down for hurdles.

The whole thing is a Betfair publicity stunt and a farce and it could cause serious harm to the sport, horses and jockeys.

And if she is getting paid why the **** was she given an amateur licence?

The fact that they couldn't accommodate all the extra media when she rode at Fakenham and Wincanton is a clear indicator that the story is attracting wider attention.

I don't see why any jockey or horse is more or less likely to get injured as a result of Pendleton, it's a race choc full of bang average riders (many of whom will be getting the ride on the basis of nepotism anyway) and accidents can happen at any time - STD fell off on the flat not so long ago didn't he? Should he have his license revoked too?

She's an Olympic champion who was basically at the pinnacle of her chosen sport and she has decided to turn her hand to our great game. As I said before, the genuine passion she has shown in interviews is palpable, and she should be an inspiration to others.

Do you have any idea the amount of work that she will have put in to get even this far in just one year? You seem very keen to belittle what is a considerable achievement.

kfallon

I saw some coverage on RUK last night of her press conference on Monday announcing she would ride in the race, I have to say it really riled me.

"I'm happy to announce that I will ride in the Foxhunters at Cheltenham"

Who. Gives. A. Shít.

Now I know that's Betfair and other sponsors getting their 15 mins of exposure by having the press conference but what a load of bollix! There will prob be another 15 or 16 riders in the race, you don't see Nina Carberry or Derek O'Connor having major announcements about partaking.

Fair play to her for having the commitment to see this thru, very commendable but at the end of the day she's had major sponsorship as well as the backing of big stables, what other amateur rider wouldn't love to have this too (she prob isn't an amateur if she's been getting paid)

I hope she gets round or at the very worst has a 'soft' unseat and we can all move on but it'll be an absolute PR disaster for racing if she has a serious fall leading to an injury to her, her horse or a rival jockey/horse!

Is it 4 times she's fallen/unseated so far and 2 of those in flat races?

Also I hope due credit is given to the Gold Cup winner, Foxhunters is the next race and I'd hate to see the 'Pendleton Roadshow' kick into gear no sooner has the winner crossed the line in the Gold Cup.

If there's one week in the year Horse Racing doesn't need to generate exposure to the 'outside world' it's the week of Cheltenham so not sure what the actual point of this is!

sting60

The Foxhunters is officially the worst quality race at Cheltenham yet Attheraces have given more time not to the race but to Pendleton day by day on its 1 PM bulletin than any other event at the greatest race meeting on the planet. This has ZERO to do with horse racing but to glorify a PR stunt by Betfair and nothing else.This is a disaster waiting to happen but the British authority's seemingly have turned a blind eye .

Bangor Billy

sting60 wrote: »

This has ZERO to do with horse racing but to glorify a PR stunt by Betfair and nothing else.This is a disaster waiting to happen but the British authority's seemingly have turned a blind eye .

Of course they have, just as they have turned a blind eye to the fact that this 'Amateur' jockey is being paid £ 250,000 to take part in this.

Money talks and the BHA have as much spine as a jellyfish.

diomed

The one positive is it is not David Beckham.

kksaints

Finished 5th. Went considerably better than expected. Possibly could have been stronger at the finish but from such a low base it was still very impressive.

D9Male

Some of the other jockeys in the race were relative nobodies, too.

I am glad it all worked out okay. I think a stronger jockey would have been closer, but the race was full of mediocre jockeys.