Rule number one for jockeys should be never, ever look at social media. Aside from being the insidious invention of the devil, it is a place inhabited by bigoted, uninformed nutcases who can make a disproportionate amount of noise.
When Kieran Shoemark replaced Frankie Dettori as John and Thady Gosden’s stable jockey, he would have known the job was not all it was cracked up to be, because they train for a staggering seven owners who retain their own jockeys.
But what Shoemark did know was that he was entrusting the next stage of his career to the Gosdens, and that was a very fortuitous opportunity.
A brief résumé of the strength in depth of the yard at the beginning of the season would have revealed that it was not going to be a championship-winning campaign. But it still had two mega fillies, Inspiral and Emily Upjohn, to launch their partnership.
Unfortunately, neither horse has hit the target thus far. Emily Upjohn ran a blinder at the Curragh on ground that went against her but was disappointing last time at Goodwood albeit, drawn widest of all in stall 10, she had only limited options as to where she could race.
It would have been folly to have bounced her out of the stalls to get ahead of the pack and track over to the rail, as it is an uphill start, and Shoemark would have been using too much petrol too early.
But dropping in towards the rear would have been possible only if the field had gone a much harder gallop. So that left one option: to stay out wide, tuck her in the best he could and try to switch her off into a nice rhythm.
To imply that Shoemark had “got trapped wide on the track” as a criticism was balderdash. But what sets the Gosdens out from many in the crowd is that they have not thrown their young jockey under the bus, even though they were probably getting plenty of “incoming” from interested parties who are stupid enough to look at social media. And some from the traditional media who were happy to stir the pot.
Getting dropped for Moore a blessing in disguise
As for Inspiral, she has turned into a moody old cow who enjoys taking the mickey out of her jockeys. So it was a piece of good fortune for Shoemark that he got “jocked off” by her owners before she ran in her last race in France.
There is nothing wrong with an owner turning to a jockey they have had success with in the past when a particular horse has been disappointing and their old ally is available.
In 1984, owner Ivan Allen replaced regular jockey Darrel McHargue on the well-fancied Commanche Run in the St Leger with Lester Piggott. McHargue was so furious he told the press he would not even watch the race on TV – he would play tennis instead.
When it started raining on St Leger day, Piggott was asked if Commanche Run’s chances had been compromised. “Not at all,” he replied. Then he added with his classic wry smile, “but it’s probably ruined Darrel’s game of tennis”.
The only way for a jockey to respond to being jocked off is to take it on the chin and outwardly offer help and assistance to the new jockey while inwardly hoping that they make a right balls-up.
If Shoemark had been on Inspiral at Deauville on her last start he would have been slaughtered. As it turned out, she gave away eight lengths dwelling in the stalls under Ryan Moore and was beaten by about three lengths.
Given Moore is the best jockey in the world, no one is going to crucify him if one is slowly away. And I would imagine he just shrugged his shoulders and stated the obvious: she did not jump out of the stalls as fast as she should have done.
Perhaps Shoemark will get another chance to coax madam moody back into the winner’s enclosure after all. John Gosden is famous for giving his horses time to hit their peak targets. There are still a lot of good races to play for this year.
