flat stamina, blackmore, which way will walker sway & billy the kid.

​John Gosden said of his Lockinge winner Lead Artist that the horse had plenty of stamina as he has already won over 9-furlongs. John Gosden spent his early training years in California where 9-furlong races are indeed spoken of in terms of stamina. In California, I dare say, races over further than 10-furlongs are the equivalent of 2-mile+ races over here.
Flat trainers use the word ‘stamina’ when talking about how far their prize two-year-old might stay when all grown-up and mature, as if they are talking of a potential Ascot Gold Cup winner, rather than the ability of the horse in question to stay seven-furlongs. 
This use of the word ‘stamina’ by flat trainers is annoying. Why will they not adopt the word ‘ability’ when postulating on the furthest distance their horse might be capable of winning at? I fear one day in the future, if horse racing has a long and fruitful future, that trainers will be saying that they are sure their prize horse will have the stamina to stay the speed-requiring distances of six or seven-furlongs. 

Rachael Blackmore continues to be central to our sport, even in retirement. She obviously took everyone by surprise last Monday and it is testament to her place in the sport’s hierarchy that every Racing Post writer is eager to have his or her say on the woman who moved mountains and altered the percentage of prejudice against her sex.
As you would expect, Lee Mottershead’s piece on her is lead by facts and the opinions of the famed and famous in our sport. In fact, and it is no surprise to me, someone who follows the exploits of female riders perhaps a little closer than most, little has changed during the ‘Blackmore Years’. Although more female jockeys are riding now, especially in Britain, the win to ride ratio has hardly altered, and if you took Blackmore’s rides in Ireland out of the equation, I suspect the tide has rolled backwards in her homeland.
Rachael Blackmore was – odd to use the past tense about her – a brilliant jockey, as her career record clearly demonstrates. Her career highs outstrip the achievements of every male jockey who has ever ridden, with the exceptions of the greatest of jockeys, and she is entitled to be in that select band. She did not win the King George at Kempton, yet that is the only ‘classic’ National Hunt race that slipped her grasp. I just hope it cannot be said of her ‘there will never be another like her.’ There has to be or there will not be a Blackmore legacy.

What is required, of course, for there to be another female to follow in the footsteps of Rachael Blackmore is for a trainer or owner to give a female jockey similar opportunities to those given to Rachael.
I am putting Ed Walker on trial when it comes to this subject. No one can say that Hollie Doyle has any need of a Blackmore legacy. She has created her own legacy in the sport. On Saturday, she won on Qilin Queen for Ed Walker. The filly will next be seen in the Epsom Oaks. But will Hollie keep the ride? Husband Tom usually hops into the saddle when Walker has a runner in a big race, when he is not required by William Haggas. Saffie Osborne also rides regularly for Ed Walker.
If trainers and owners do not give opportunities to even our top female riders, and no one can argue that Doyle and Osborne are in the top echelon of riders in this country, what chance is there for the gender-equality playing field to ever become level. Blackmore did not rise to the pinnacle of the sport due to her ability in the saddle, she succeeded because she was given the opportunity to prove herself the equal, and the better in most cases, of her male colleagues. And it does matter if Qilin Queen is 25/1 for the Epsom Oaks, odds which doubtless reflect the likelihood of her winning the race. If Hollie or Saffie cannot be trusted with riding a 25/1 shot, what are the likelihood of trainers turning to them when they have previously ridden a horse that is favourite?

Billy Loughnane is a phenomenon. Only 19 (? They grow up so fast, these days) and he has already ridden a winner at every British racecourse bar 4. It cannot be long before quantity is replaced by quality.