Equinties - Easter weekender

Gm Equinauts

All-Weather Finals Day occurred at Newcastle, and the champion trainer, jockey, and apprentice were crowned and a big shoutout is deserved to Jack Doughty for his win in the apprentice division.

We first highlighted him as a jockey to follow in our February 12th, 2024 edition of the newsletter!…2024!

Let’s dive in.

HEADLINE ROUND UP

ITV PUNDITRY

There was also the fallout between Andrew Balding and Qatar Racing, and while it seemed like there could have been something suspicious going on, it turns out it was just a disagreement between trainer and owner. Cut and dry.

But, towards the end of the day, there was a bit of discussion on Racing X regarding the ITV punditry at Newcastle yesterday.

Long story short, Oli Bell suggested that Oisin Murphy’s ride wasn’t amazing on OLD HARROVIAN in the Easter Classic (because it wasn’t) and his punditry team of Meg Nicholls and Adele Mulrennan shot him down.

This, ultimately, caused a stir on Racing X - because it involved Murphy and a short-priced horse - which then saw Murphy make a response on X.

There’s two things to highlight here. Let’s start with the punditry.

Ultimately, Mulrennan and Nicholls were at odds with Ollie Bell’s first view. That’s fine, a conversation would be boring if every one had the same view. When criticised, Bell back tracked.

Our view? We think Oisin was unlucky not to have timed it to perfection, which would mean Ollie is quite right.

But we also agree with Mulrennan and Nicholls on the basis they know one needs to build a horse up to full send. A jockey can’t just go from 0-100 in an instant.

Oisin Murphy was clearly kicking himself in the video, but we’re quite sure he wouldn’t have changed how he handled the horse, had he had the chance to ride the race again, he’d have perhaps started 5 strides soon.

It’s rare Oisin gets it wring, he is head and shoulders above every one else right now.

Last note on the video - brilliant. Jockeys don’t have to explain what they do (or did) but boy would we love more of it! Well done, Oisin.

Back to the punditry. We shouldn’t be afraid in racing to criticise our athletes/performers if it’s justified. Yesterday was an intersting point with Bell taking the punters view and the two girls taking the jockey view. Both sides providing context and we thought it made more good television.

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