Author Topic: A question about horse racing  (Read 817 times)

MillCreek

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A question about horse racing
« on: May 02, 2021, 03:36:40 PM »
I know pretty much nothing about horse racing. I saw a news clip about the Derby and this caused me to wonder: does the jockey make a difference in whether a horse wins or not?


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BobR

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Re: A question about horse racing
« Reply #1 on: May 02, 2021, 03:39:18 PM »
I have a feeling the answer to that question depends on whether you ask a jockey or the horse's owner. ;)

bob

Grandpa Shooter

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Re: A question about horse racing
« Reply #2 on: May 02, 2021, 04:37:50 PM »
I know pretty much nothing about horse racing. I saw a news clip about the Derby and this caused me to wonder: does the jockey make a difference in whether a horse wins or not?

Yes very much so.  It takes a good match between rider and horse at any level of horsemanship to get consistent results.  My horse won't do for you what it does for me.  Same with racehorses.

griz

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Re: A question about horse racing
« Reply #3 on: May 02, 2021, 06:36:17 PM »
I figured a good rider would be as beneficial as a good driver in a race car, in other words, a lot.

What I always wondered is if the horse knows it's racing the other horses?
Sent from a stone age computer via an ordinary keyboard.

230RN

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Re: A question about horse racing
« Reply #4 on: May 02, 2021, 07:49:08 PM »
Nutshell-wise, here's all you'll ever need to know about horse races:

(1) https://youtu.be/FCtmpY5vWtQ

(2) $2 bills are handy.

(3) There's the Seinfeld bit: "His mudder was a mudder."

(4)  Women wear crazy hats-- the crazier the better:

https://blog.kysupplyco.com/kentucky-derby-hats-tradition-behind-craziest-fashion-tradition-in-sports/

( ^ Scroll through for pics of the craziest hats throughout the article.)

My gut tells me the jockey has a lot to do with the win.  There are four possibilities:

Good horse good jockey
Bad horse good jockey
Good horse bad jockey
Bad horse bad jockey

Times the number of starters at the gates.

You takes yer pick and you bets yer choice as in (1) above.

It's not rocket science.

It's harder than that.

Terry, 230RN

REF (Winningest jockeys of all time):
https://breederscupexperiences.com/blog/the-top-8-winningest-american-horse-racing-jockeys-of-all-time



« Last Edit: May 02, 2021, 08:31:51 PM by 230RN »

French G.

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Re: A question about horse racing
« Reply #5 on: May 02, 2021, 10:59:46 PM »
Absolutely. The horse unrestrained is probably not going to save itself for the home stretch. Twenty jockeys all trying to get their horse on the rail and home first means crowded real estate and the jockey that can best see what horse and rider is going to do what and when can best position their horse to capitalize on that.
AKA Navy Joe   

I'm so contrarian that I didn't respond to the thread.

Bogie

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Re: A question about horse racing
« Reply #6 on: May 02, 2021, 11:33:48 PM »
I'm from about 25 miles, crow-fly, from Keeneland.
 
Horses are pretty smart. Thorobreds are aholes.
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230RN

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Re: A question about horse racing
« Reply #7 on: May 03, 2021, 01:49:19 AM »
French G:  Good answer. True of many types of racing.

Bogie remarked,

"Horses are pretty smart. Thorobreds are aholes."

Cutting horses are friggin' geniuses. Most of the time it looks like the rider is just hanging on for dear life.

Thoroughbreds?  Meh.  They hang around people who wear stupid hats, so what do you expect?

Late modification; cutting horse in action.

https://youtu.be/caDEgBLLOVo (4:18)
« Last Edit: May 06, 2021, 04:39:43 AM by 230RN »

RoadKingLarry

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Re: A question about horse racing
« Reply #8 on: May 03, 2021, 09:45:51 AM »
If the jockey didn't matter they could strap a number to the horses and just line 'em up and let 'em run.
Jockeys are professional athletes that don't get the attention that the whiney ass, millionaire sportsballers get.
If they did the owners would have to pay them more, can't have that.
If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen.

Samuel Adams

MechAg94

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Re: A question about horse racing
« Reply #9 on: May 03, 2021, 10:08:00 AM »
If the jockey didn't matter they could strap a number to the horses and just line 'em up and let 'em run.
Jockeys are professional athletes that don't get the attention that the whiney ass, millionaire sportsballers get.
If they did the owners would have to pay them more, can't have that.
Some people talk crap about race car drivers also. 
“It is much more important to kill bad bills than to pass good ones.”  ― Calvin Coolidge

RoadKingLarry

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Re: A question about horse racing
« Reply #10 on: May 03, 2021, 12:09:58 PM »
Hemingway opined that there are only three sports, bullfighting, motor racing and mountaineering. Based on the premise that getting killed was a possibility in a sport, everything else was merely a game. I would humbly add horse racing to his list.
If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen.

Samuel Adams

230RN

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Re: A question about horse racing
« Reply #11 on: May 03, 2021, 01:54:18 PM »
Hemingway opined that there are only three sports, bullfighting, motor racing and mountaineering. Based on the premise that getting killed was a possibility in a sport, everything else was merely a game. I would humbly add horse racing to his list.

I always felt that bullfighting only had a score of 1 or 0.  You either lived or died, 1 or 0,

There are other 1 - 0 sports.  Rock climbing comes to mind.  Back country skiing is another.

Just for grins,I checked on snowy deaths:

https://avalanche.state.co.us/caic/acc/acc_us.php