jockeys.

​If you think about it, being a jockey is a mad profession to choose when there are so many other less dangerous and more rewarding ways to earn a living. Imagine what a careers advisor would say to your teenage son or daughter when told ‘I’m going to be a jockey when I leave school. I have a pony already.’ Broken bones followed by broken dreams is what most careers advisors would point out in a pointless attempt to direct the child towards university education or a job within the manufacturing industry. 
A career advisor, on assessing the survey I had filled out, thought I should consider selling as a career. I do not care for buying much, so selling stuff I had no interest in would hold very little interest to me. Anyhow, I have found so many other ways to waste whatever abilities I might have had.
We, as enthusiasts or bettors, owe the brave men and women who go between the white rails day after day to entertain and enthral us, and, of course, to earn the fee that pays their bills, a debt we can never repay, though we can respect them. We must never forget that jockeys are flesh and blood, with mortgages to pay, cars to run and children to educate. It is so easy to criticise when sat in a comfy armchair in front of a warm fire, with a mug of tea in your hand. Gambling adds so much spice to the sport that a non-gambler like myself has no right to say that betting slips are harmful to evaluative thinking.
Not that you need to bet regularly to skew thought processes. I have never come within a hundred-miles of either Jack Kennedy or Paul Townend and I am not even Irish by birth or heritage, yet I desperately wanted Kennedy to become champion jockey. Not because I do not respect or have anything against Townend, it was just that he had already won the Champion Hurdle, Cheltenham Gold Cup, Grand National, plus the majority of Grade 1’s in both Ireland and Britain and enough was enough. Kennedy has suffered more broken bones in his comparatively short career to sustain a fracture clinic all on his own, and he had finished second to Townend in the Champion Hurdle, Cheltenham Gold Cup and the Grand National, plus a zillion other races during his career. He deserved to be champion jockey and I hope he retains the trophy next season.
As an aside, Paul Townend had a 38% winning percentage in Ireland last season. There should be a trophy for best winning percentage as even riding for Willie Mullins that is some achievement. The highest profile job comes with an expectation of achievement and that must come with pressure to succeed and more opportunities to cock-it-up, yet Townend rarely gets anything wrong. We all thought Ruby Walsh would be an impossible act to follow, yet Townend has made it look as easy as shelling peas.
The mad aspect of the Irish racing scene is that a jockey who rides mainly in bumpers can finish fourth in the championship, finishing above the loveliness and talent of Rachael Blackmore. Patrick Mullins may be the greatest amateur rider in history, or he may not be, after all he rarely throws his leg over a ‘dodgy one’, and also a mega and multi-talented communicator of the sport, with riches at his disposal that would tempt a saint to the sin of envy, yet should he be finishing in front of so many of Ireland’s top professionals? Given that Irish jockeys have far fewer opportunities in Ireland when compared to their colleagues in Britain, I would suggest half of their bumper races should be opened-up to professionals, even if restricted to professionals that are still claiming an allowance. Sorry Patrick, I even want to take the National Hunt Chase at Cheltenham away from amateurs!
On the domestic front, though pleased for her, personally I find it disappointing and not a little heartbreaking that Bryony Frost has had to make the decision to take her career to France in order to chase greater opportunities. Paul Nicholl’s has, apparently, asked her to return to Ditcheat in October, though now she is to be Simon Munir and Isaac Souede’s retained rider in France there is every possibility her appearances on British racecourses will become few and far between. Of course, the deciding factor in offering Bryony the job was the rather patronising 2Ib allowance female riders receive in France to encourage connections to give greater opportunities to the fairer sex, but it also seems a bit daft giving someone of Bryony’s success and experience an advantage over leading male jockeys. The 2Ib, apparently, does not apply to graded races.
I will miss Bryony, especially through the quiet months of summer, though I hope she career choice is successful and proves to all those trainers and owners who might have supported her what they have missed out on. She was our golden communicator, yet British racing decided to sideline her. Is it any wonder our sport is limping alone while in other racing jurisdictions it thrives?
I cross my fingers that the Racing Post takes an interest in her progress in France and allows its readers, and Bryony admirers, to know how she is getting on. A ‘Big Read’ feature on a Sunday would be appreciated, if she should grant the Racing Post the privilege!