Make-Up Tips & Beauty Advice

Many racing services now offer jockey statistics that show certain jockeys have their strengths and weaknesses. The jockey who is successful with sprinters on the dirt may not fare so well with routers on the turf. Other jockeys just seem to handle younger horses better.

But is there any other way to exploit the human element when it comes to the riders? I say there is and it is one that is often overlooked. I once bet a horse in a turf race that was racing on the inside. It looked like the horse had good tactical speed, coming out of the sire Silver Hawk, and it was a first time turfer. I handicapped the race and figured the horse would get a ground saving trip and be in striking position on the rail near the end of the race.

The jockey was a good rider who had a good win percentage so it looked like all systems go. Because the horse hadn’t raced on turf before, many of the players laid off it so the odds were very generous. The race started and played out exactly as I thought it would. My horse was on the rail with only a few tiring horse sin front as they went around the final turn. A hole opened up on the rail and the horse lunged forward, but as it did, the jockey started sawing on the reins trying to pull it back. This startled the green horse and the more it pulled the more the rider pulled back violently sawing away at the reins.

The horse began swaying and stumbled a little, nothing serious, it was just thrown off stride a little but stayed on its feet and kept trying to get through the hole. At that point the rider leapt off the horse. I had only seen a rider actually leap off a horse one other time and I think that rider wanted to make sure the horse lost. In this case, I think the rider was afraid to go through the narrow opening.

The rider walked away from the incident, no worse for the wear and the horse shot through the hole and won the race, but of course, without the jockey it was not awarded the win. The lesson was that the jockey would not take a horse through a tight spot. As I watched her more and more I realized she really needed an outside lane to win race or an opening you could drive a truck through.

I would play her if she had an outside post position, but never if I thought she would wind up on the rail or behind a wall of horses. I still think she is a good rider, but I also know her limitations. By watching jockeys and knowing their quirks, you may find situations where a good jockey will not win. Some jockeys love to skim the rail while others are rail shy. Some are good with an outside post while others can’t handle it. Knowing which jockeys are in the right position or have the horse with the right running style is one more way to make money on horse races.