Doing things right, or doing them wrong

Conditions remain dry on this side of the country, which statement must provide cold comfort for those on the west: Ffos Las was vergeing on unraceably heavy yesterday, Ayr is abandoned because of water-logging today, while the M74, if I heard the radio correctly, is just about impassable in Lanarkshire because of flooding. Not so at Leicester, where the ground remains very quick on the hurdles track and where the steeplechase course remains, presumably, unraceably firm, the steeplechases having been abandoned for this week's meeting again. I was contemplating running Alcalde (whose ears are seen on a splendid morning on the Severals on Sunday) there on Thursday, but that fast ground wouldn't be his go, so he can instead go to Uttoxeter tomorrow, where the ground should be slightly on the soft side of good, which is OK. The Leicester race did arguably look more appealing, but the ground has taken the decision for us - which is not a bad thing from the point of view of my convenience, as Kadouchski (pictured lairizing in the field a couple of weeks ago) is set to run at Market Rasen on Thursday, and having runners at two meetings on the same day is rarely ideal. Anyway, let's hope for two good runs. Both horses seem well (which should go without saying, of course, as one oughtn't to be running horses unless one can say that about them).

I note that one of the jockeys in opposition to Alcalde tomorrow is Robert McCarth (7). I hope that he doesn't do to us what he did to one of his rivals at Sedgefield last week. I know that there is an unwritten rule about not pushing up the inside - and that this can cause problems on tracks where the inside running rail is intermittent, but that didn't apply here. Harry Haynes jumped a hurdle on the inside with McCarth next to him. The rail ended for about 80 yards, and McCarth appeared to steer so that he would be hard up against the inside rail when it resumed. The result, of course, was that Harry Haynes' horse was forced off the track and had a very nasty fall. The subsequent stewards' enquiry showed how out of touch I am with contemporary views on crime and punishment: I'd assumed that McCarth would be found guilty of either intentional interference or foul riding and be rubbed out for around six months, with his mount disqualified. I could hardly have been more wrong: I don't know what he was found guilty of, but he was suspended for either five or six days (I can't remember which) and his mount retained second position. It's hard to understand what he could have been found guilty of that could have carried such a punishment (and he must have been found guilty of something to have received any suspension): the interference clearly seemed neither accidental nor careless but intentional, and I can't see what category of intentional interference can bring such a lenient suspension when the interference has caused a fall. Still, ours not to reason why - but I just hope that he doesn't pull the same stunt tomorrow against our horse. And you couldn't be sure that he wouldn't, because the punishment has hardly been designed to get the message across that that kind of behaviour is beyond the pale.

That's the problem with youngsters nowadays: nobody tells them that what they're doing is wrong. Take, for instance, Kieran Fox, about whom a sob-story was written in the Racing Post last week. We were told that Kieran Fox is a freelance jockey who lives in Carshalton in Surrey and whose supply of rides has inexplicably dried up to such an extent that he is so short of money that he cannot afford to ride trackwork for any trainer, as he can't afford the petrol. So he just sits at home getting even poorer. This, of course, is totally misleading. He is not a freelance jockey: he is an apprentice, apprenticed to John Best, who trains in Kent, ie nowhere near Carshalton. Best used to give him plenty of rides, but doesn't do so any longer - and it's not hard to guess why: if the lad is not turning up for work, he's hardly going to give him any more rides. And if it's plain that his own stable has stopped using him (which it has) then he's not going to get any rides for anyone else either, particularly if he isn't riding out for anyone. The Racing Post probably thought that it was doing Fox a favour by highlighting his supposed plight, but in reality it was doing nothing of the sort. If it had said, "No, we're not going to write about how people should feel sorry for you. We're going to tell you to pull your finger out, move back so that you're living in the stable you're working in, and turn up for work every day. You'll find that your boss starts using you again, then other trainers will start doing so, and in another six months we'll be writing an article about how you've pulled yourself together and are doing well again." Kieran Fox is a talented young rider, but if nobody tells him what to do he'll remain a rudderless ship adrift. Compare and contrast Richard Callendar's wake-up call in last week's Winning Post to Josh Parr and Taylor Lovelock-Wiggins, two talented young riders in Sydney who, like Fox, seem to be sending their careers in the wrong direction through stupidity: "Josh Parr is no kid anymore and he must not continue to make dumb mistakes that cost him, owners and punters money. He is a better rider than the opportunities he is currently getting. Last Thursday at Hawkesbury, Josh rode Kiev for Peter Snowden and he must have been the only person who was at Hawkesbury or watching the program on television who didn't know the area hard up against in the inside fence was a no-go area. Kathy O'Hara partnered the winner Breeze Up, who had only won one from 21 heading into the race. O'Hara steered several horses away from the inside and even though Breeze Up didn't seem to want to win, he did. Meanwhile Parr and Kiev were on the worst ground near the fence. Then, two days later at Rosehill, Parr was fined $500 by the stewards for failing to ride out his mount , Sea Lord, over the final 100m. Josh, you are a good rider who I continually praise. But that will stop, as may the rides, if you don't pull up your socks and be more careful. Speaking of riders who seem to find drama wherever they go, Taylor Lovelock-Wiggins was also fined ($400) by the Rosehill stewards for failing to ride his mount, Mentality, to the line. The gelding finished seventh, but only a neck behind fifth placegetter Fitness Fanatic. Racing is full of trainers or jockeys who could have or should have. But you know what? So is every other sport and life in general. And nobody cares, so you need to make the most of your opportunities." Wise words - and kind ones too, because to tell youngsters that irresponsible or just plain stupid behaviour is anything less than totally unacceptable is to do them no favours at all.

On the subject of pointing youngsters in the right direction, I was delighted last week to gallop with an ex-jockey whom I greatly respect and who spends quite a lot of time doing just that nowadays. Michael Tebbutt was never a high-profile jockey, but he enjoyed a long career because of his professionalism, a large part of which involved keeping his weight in check. He's probably more a jumps jockey's size, but after he'd ridden a few bumper winners and in one hurdle race in his youth, he decided that he'd rather stay hungry and on the Flat. When I arrived in Newmarket 24 years ago, he'd only just come down from Middleham, where he'd been apprenticed to Chris Thornton, to join William Jarvis' stable. And I think that he only packed up race-riding four years ago, his final career-ending bad injury coming not from a racing fall, but when Cockney Rebel reared over with him in the yard a few weeks before winning the 2,000 Guineas. Anyway, I've always liked and respected Michael, and I was very pleased a year ago tomorrow when Hannah had her first ride at Kempton in a hands-and-heels apprentice race to find that he was the ex-jockey charged with briefing and de-briefing the riders, which is what happens in such races. Hannah is riding in the same race again tomorrow (for Julia Feilden) so I'd imagine that Michael might be on duty there again. And I was pleased also last week when I galloped Asterisk with one of Michael Wigham's horses on the Al Bahathri to find that Michael was on board. As these photographs show, he's lost none of his poise. Good on 'im - he's a man from whom these youngsters could learn plenty if they opened their eyes.