How come SA was not invited to the Jockey challenge?

Good point Craig.....nobody better qualified to comment than Muis...........done both!
I see that R Hills got a mention in one of the posts..............he is one jock that is no better than "adequate journeyman"

@ craig

its no secret that i am obsessed with USA racing from a punting point of view. Now lets look at Rosemary Holmeister jnr and Robbie Albarado. They win multiple races every day of the week. Hatricks are not rare they are the norm, 4 timers are also frequent and winning 5 races on a card happens often. Now these jockeys can clearly ride winners BUT NO WAY is riding the same racecourse, the same direction for 12 weeks in a row (that the length of some meets) as skillful as what even Anton does. SO if Anton went to the states within 1 MONTH he would be riding 7 winners a day of that i am sure.

BUT even the mighty Steve cauthen and Gerry Bailey found the challenge of riding in the UK one not to be missed.

Rob

I agree that R Hills is NOT everyone's cup of tea, my point about him was that he rides for Sheik H and that every dubai season jockeys from all over the world ride in front of the Sheik (including Hills whom i agree is kak) YET the Sheik does not approach Anton or Bernhard when he sees them in Dubai?


WHY NOT

Craig/Easy...did Muis freelance when he won in the UK or was he retained by a stable?

retained by Sheik Mo

Will get more info from Michael on Monday if need but did chat to him earlier and these are his almost exact words to my questions on Anton. Could Anton win the UK championship if he worked as hard as you or Paul did? Yes without doubt he could but would just need to change his style slightly and he would win it if he tried. He could win anywhere in the world. How do you rate Paul against Anton in ability? Paul is a nice guy and a good jockey but he is not an Anton Marcus. I did not ask anything else.

Craig,when you see Mouse Roberts,mention Mtoto.That will put a twinkle
in his eye. I loved that horse,but he must have loved it even more.
I have a picture in my study of him on Terimon in 1992. Always had a soft spot for greys.
Does anyone remember Rotherfield Greys who won The Schweppes in the 1980s,it was owned
by my mates dad.That horse got me hooked,massive gamble landed.

@ craig

cool we now half way there, now ask muis if paul rode every single horse Anton rode last season would he be SA champion or would he too have to adapt?

I myself live in the UK, even though I've been following SA racing since very young being originally from Mauritius, and I really can't fathom why some of you guys are bringing your own jocks down. Absolutely no reason to. Given the choice, I would take the SA riding school over UK's any day of the week. Just take a look at the champion apprentices we've been producing over here in the last five years (Golam, Donohoe, Fairley, Probert, Tylicki, Lane). Only Buick and Turner have come out of the academy with any credit. Hardly a good young jockey from the UK lately, even De Sousa and Buick are Brazilian and Norwegian born. The likes of Lerenas, Yeni, Teetan, Fourie, Mansour, V'D Merwe are a country mile ahead of the young riders currently in the UK. The SA school is in my mind probably second only to France right now, and that's largely due to the genius of Andre Fabre (Guyon, Barzalona and the latest to watch out for Pierre-Charles Boudot, in successive fashion, not to mention all of Soumillon, Lemaire, Peslier, Jarnet, Pasquier also went through the Fabre's school).

Tbh, for me, the truely top class riders we have in the UK are Dettori, Moore, Hughes, Buick, Spencer, Fallon, Hanagan, Hills and De Sousa. Taking a closer look at the nationalities, Dettori is Italian, Buick Norwegian born, De Sousa Brazilian, Fallon Irish, Hughes Irish, Spencer Irish, and even worst if you expand the list, Queally Irish, Fortune Irish, Callan Irish, and those before, Kinane Irish, Eddery Irish, Murtagh Irish and so on. So, some may think the UK championship is high class, but that's largely due to imports.

Arguably, internationally, the best jockeys' championship is in Hong Kong, and Doug Whyte has been kicking asses for over a decade despite the Aussies sending their best over there (Beadman, Dye, Prebble). And, before Doug, it was Basil.

And, I really don't see why the likes of Marcus, Strydom, Fayd'Herbe, Delpech, Marwing, Lloyd etc... wouldn't be able to perform in the UK. Coz' bar the ones I've mentioned above, it's largely quantity over quality in the UK right now. There's always the tendency to think the grass is greener elsewhere, but take my word for it, you guys should cherish what you guys should cherish what you've got, coz' it's something very good.

"Tbh, for me, the truely top class riders we have in the UK are Dettori, Moore, Hughes, Buick, Spencer, Fallon, Hanagan, Hills and De Sousa. Taking a closer look at the nationalities, Dettori is Italian, Buick Norwegian born, De Sousa Brazilian, Fallon Irish, Hughes Irish, Spencer Irish, and even worst if you expand the list, Queally Irish, Fortune Irish, Callan Irish, and those before, Kinane Irish, Eddery Irish, Murtagh Irish and so on. So, some may think the UK championship is high class, but that's largely due to imports. "

EXACTLY why are all these foreigners riding in England, the sense of achievement here is worth more than being the bloody norweigean champion. NO ONE disputes the class of the SA Jockey acamdemy BUT there are also PLENTY duds coming out of there.

Now for the "best" jockey championship in the world according to Villiers. Honk Kong (and i really rate dougie) cant be the be the best just because the bucks and the pressure are huge. The same jock wins it year in year out. Barring a challenge from Brett Dougie has it sewn up every year. A bit like the scottish premier league its dominated by 2 jockeys.

Now Pierre is a mate of mine and DID ride in the UK for Mark Johnston. The travel got to him and he decided to go back home to SA.

So you say you live in the UK, if you read through this thread you will see that I dont knock SA top jocks ability, i just state that riding out here for a full season will sort otu the men from the boys. I also agree that the racing overall here is weaker "quantity over quality" in your words BUT i would like to remind you that to win the Jockeys championship in SA the "world class " anton /delpech/strydom etc all end up riding a few scrubbers in kimberley to help with the numbers.

I end my reply with a simple question,

Which course is it easier to ride at Goodwood or Kenilworth?
Chester or Turfies
Chepstow or Vaal
Windsor or Scottsville
Folkstone or Clairwood
Haydock or Greyville
Muss or Arlington
Ayr or Fairview

do i need to continue?

DTF Michael loves Mtoto. Rates him the best he has ever ridden. Easy I will not see Michael until tomorrow as far as I know as I have no runners today. I think that is what he was saying when he said Anton would just have to change his style of riding slightly to suit the racing there but he is so good that it would not be a problem and he would win the championship if he wanted too. My personal opinion and listening to Michael probably his as well is that if Paul had ridden Antons rides Anthony would have won the championship. Not sure if you watched the race when he won on Assessment? Very few jockeys would have won on him.As Michael said awhile ago, champion jockeys get horses to win when they shouldnt. Champions also make less mistakes. 90% of winners any jockey will win on.

The thing that really gets me about Sylvestre de Sousa is that he rode at an evening meeting in the UK just ONE day after riding in the Melbourne Cup. Now that's commitment, even if travelling east-to-west gained him many hours in the air. That's a freaking long flight, no matter how young, fit, or small you are.

Without comparing the merits of the relative jockeys, I'd agree that the British championship is probably the hardest to win even if the UK has a shorter season than most other major racing countries. Travelling up and down the country day in and day out to ride in races with peanuts for prize money takes some determination, and both Muis Roberts and Frankie Dettori can tell you all about the perils of climbing into a light aircraft to get from a day meeting to an evening meeting in a hurry. Not to mention that Cessnas and helicopters dont come cheap.<