Non-tryers

[Iron]

I was in a bookie shop today watching a race, and after the race the guy who was stood next to me, who claimed to be an ex-jockey, told me that the winner was a non-tryer. He explained that you could tell from the jockey's hand movements that he was trying to slow down the horse.

I'm a little sceptical of the guy's claim. If it was that blatant that the jockey was cheating, surely the stewards would also have noticed it.

Obviously, I can't name the race in question, but when you're watching a race, does it sometimes look like the jockey is trying not to win the race?

Jeff

[SilentDave]

All the time when I'm watching US racing!

[lilgreenback]

I'm no expert on race watching and would not know what to look for but if the race in question was a handicap it may be that the jockey was trying to ease him slightly so it does not appear to be such a big winning margin. Therefore incurring more weight next time out. If you want to identify a whole field of non triers more accurately then you could go little further than the 10 men in white shirts this Sat night at the Millenium Stadium.

[Iron]

Possibly.

I also wonder whether sometimes the jockey wants to conserve the horse's energy to prevent it from running out of steam late on and getting overtaken.

Jeff

I'm no expert on race watching and would not know what to look for but if the race in question was a handicap it may be that the jockey was trying to ease him slightly so it does not appear to be such a big winning margin. Therefore incurring more weight next time out.

[rubysglory]

If it was that blatant that the jockey was cheating, surely the stewards would also have noticed it

If it is done well its poetry to watch and very hard to prove. Austral-Asian jockeys are the best in the world at it as they ride so tight. Not Trying and Not Winning are two different things however.

Most often though what you see as 'non-trying' or a 'pull-up' is a simple case not not being able to win - due to class, condition or both. In such instances the jockey is just looking after the long term welfare of their mount.

rg