How did Daniel Tudhope fare in the 2021 Flat Jockeys’ Championship?

In the 2021 Flat Jockeys’ Championship, decided on winners between May 1 and October 16, Daniel Tudhope finished eighth, with 76 winners from 489 rides, at a strike rate of 16%. He finished 77 winners adrift of eventual winner Oisin Murphy. In 2021, the vast of majority of his winners, 41, have been supplied by Upper Hemsley trainer David O’Meara, with whom Tudhope has formed a fruitful partnership since becoming his stable jockey a decade ago.

A graduate of Northern Racing College, Tudhope became apprenticed to Malton trainer Declan Carroll in 2003 but, after riding 95 winners in two and a half years as an apprentice, experienced what he later described as a ‘sticky period’. After losing his claim, his fledgling career reached his nadir in 2010, when he rode just six winners. The following season, though, Tudhope joined forces with O’Meara, embarking on a path that would take him right to the top of his profession.

Tudhope rode 100 winners in a season for the first time in 2013 and did so again in 2014, 2017, 2018 and 2019. Indeed, at one point in 2019, he was odds-on favourite to win the jockeys’ title, before narrowly losing out to Oisin Murphy. He did, however, enjoy his most successful season so far, with 159 winners, and reached the career milestone of 1,000 domestic winners on Ingleby Hollow, fittingly trained by O’Meara, at Thirsk in June. At that point, Tudhope acknowledged the role O’Meara had played in building his career, saying, ‘You have your ups and downs in this game. I was lucky enough to find David at the right time, and if it wasn’t for him I wouldn’t have got here.’

What happens if a jockey unseats at, or on the way to the start?

What happens if a jockey unseats at, or on the way to the start?  In November, 2009, the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) introduced a new rule, which forbade jockeys from remounting their horses, upon pain of disqualification, at any point in a race after the field comes ‘under starter’s orders’. There are no exceptions to the rule, which introduced the possibility of races being declared ‘void’ because none of the runners complete the course unscathed. Indeed, that eventuality occurred for the first time in a novices’ chase at Towcester in March, 2011, when all four runners fell or unseated rider.

However, in the case of a jockey who parts company with his or her mount on the way to the start, or after arrival, but before the horses are in the stalls, or lined up at the start, remounting is permitted, certain caveats. Regardless of the reason for the jockey being unseated, the course doctor and veterinary surgeon must be in agreement that remounting is safe and in the best interest of horse and rider. Provided both are free from injury and the horse’s tack is intact, the jockey is allowed to remount and continue.

Which horse finished third in the 1973 Grand National?

Motor racing legend Bobby Unser once said, ‘Nobody remembers the guy who finished second, but the guy who finished second’. As far as the 1973 Grand National is concerned, it would probably be fair to say that beyond the luckless Richard Pitman – who did, indeed finish second – a fair proportion of readers, of a certain age, remember the outcome.

The winner that day was, of course, the legendary Red Rum, who reeled in the front-running Crisp – who was conceding 23lb, but held a lead of 30 lengths, or more, at one point – in the shadow of the post to snatch what had appeared, for most of the way, an unlikely victory. The front pair were separated by three-quarters of a length, with a yawning 25 lengths to the third horse.

That horse was no slouch, either. It was, in fact, L’Escargot who, despite his ‘pedestrian’ name, had already won the Cheltenham Gold Cup twice, in 1970 and 1971. Indeed, L’Escargot would return to Aintree to win the Grand National, as a 12-year-old, in 1975, thereby becoming the first of just two horses to beat Red Rum in the National.

Which were the top three three-year-olds in 2021?

According to Timeform Master Ratings, three colts, namely St. Mark’s Basilica (132), Adayar (131) and Baeed (130), were neck-and-neck at the head of the three-year-old division in 2021. The first named was retired to stud after winning the Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown in September, following the recurrence of an injury sustained in a freak gallops incident earlier in the season, but the other two reportedly remain in training in 2022.

Hailed by trainer Aidan O’Brien as ‘possibly the best we have ever had in Ballydoyle’, St. Mark’s Basilica was named Cartier Horse of the Year after an unbeaten three-year-old campaign. The half brother to 2,000 Guineas winner Magna Grecia comfortably won the Poule d’Essai des Poulains, a.k.a. the French 2,000 Guineas, on his reappearance at Longchamp in May and took the step up to 1 mile 2½ furlongs in his stride when following up in the Prix du Jockey Club at Chantilly in June. His 3½-length defeat of Addeybb in the Coral-Eclipse at Sandown in July was arguably a career-best effort, but he returned from injury to beat subsequent Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe runner-up Tarnawa in the Irish Champion Stakes.

By contrast, Adayar made a relatively low-key start to 2021, finishing runner-up in both the Classic Trial at Sandown and the Derby Trial at Lingfield. In the Derby itself, he was passed over, not for the first time, by William Buick, but belied odds of 16/1 by keeping on strongly to win by 4½ lengths and 3¼ lengths from Mojo Star and his stable companion Hurricane Lane. The following month, reunited with Buick, he became one of the rare Derby winners to run in, and win, the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot, beating Mishriff by 1¾ lengths.

Owned by Shadwell Estates, following the death of Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum in March, and trained by William Haggas, Baaeed did not make his racecourse debut until June, 2021. However, the son of Sea The Stars made spectacular progress throughout the season, winning his first four starts – including the Group 3 Thoroughbred Stakes at Goodwood in July – in impressive fashion. On his first venture into Group 1 company, in the Prix du Moulin de Longchamp, in September, he landed odds of 1/2 with a smooth, 1¼-length success from Order Of Australia. On his sixth and final start of the season, he edged out the outstanding miler of recent years, Palace Pier, in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes ar Ascot in October to maintain his unbeaten record.

 

 

 

 

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