Title chasers...

Dear All

I don't know if you share similar feelings to me but what is the fuss about the Flat Jockeys' Championship! It may be regarded as prestigious by the various jocks who have lifted the crown but does anyone following racing - apart from those talking through their pockets - really care?

We hear of certain jockeys tearing around the country; seemingly at three meetings a day during high summer, presumably creating a more hazardous environment for all of us. So, in some cases jockeys rides are being manufactured to ensure they remain competitive; those like Hanagan, Fallon and De Sousa climb aboard many more rides than high quality pilots like Philip Robinson, James Doyle, Hayley Turner and Jamie Spencer. The champion jockey should be the best jockey not the one with the most air miles!

How would it be if Aston Villa played three times as many games as Manchester United in order to make the club competitive in the Premier League!

I am not even sure that a competitive jockeys' title race adds to the spectacle of the sport. Yes of course the BBC will revel in it. Its patronising coverage (designed for those that dip in and out of the game) majored upon the Grand National and high profile personalities like Mc Coy, Dettori and Sir Henry, will point to its value. Yes, the Spencer-Sanders battle in 2007 was a decent spectacle but did it interest anyone outside the sport?

Talking of the BBC, when Hayley Turner won her G1 recently you would think she had discovered a cure for all of the World's ills. Hayley, appears to these eyes, to be a high quality jockey who has been capable of winning at this level for some time and will surely do so on many more occasions. It was a matter of record but no more than that although I am sure Hayley herself was thrilled to have ticked another of her career boxes. Women's rise to prominence in the sport is significant but let's cover it in a proper journalistic way and not simply with obsequious, condescending coverage.

Rant over!

System qualifiers worthy of mention today:

Circus Clown (3:20 Catterick) Tudhope for Goldie
Sennockian Storm (6:40 Wolverhampton)
Celebrity Sevi (6;00 Killarney)
Daffern Seal (7:00 Killarney)

Happy punting

Rm(M)