A s football managers know to their cost, you’re in trouble when bookmakers start quoting prices about you keeping your job — but it can’t have been much consolation to Jamie Spencer to read earlier in the week that Paddy Power reckoned he was long odds-on to stay in his.
Last weekend was one of the most tortuous of his career with yet another careless riding ban and the loss of a much-needed big-race victory. The suspension at Leopardstown on Sunday was his seventh inside five months and brought his sidelined days to 24, a huge total for a top-class jockey. But it was what happened in Chicago the previous day that had the tongues wagging, the bookies reaching for their chalk and scribes for their laptops.
As Powerscourt turned for home in the Arlington Million and hit the front on the outside of the field, Spencer went for his whip. Eight times he hit the horse right-handed and, even though his mount hung away from the stick, Spencer made no effort to straighten him. Not until he had almost reached the rails did he change his whip to his left hand. By that time he had set off a chain reaction of hampered horses that had Kent Desormeaux on the runner-up waving his whip in fury and giving Spencer a thumbs-down sign to indicate that he would lose the race. The stewards relegated Powerscourt to fourth place, costing Ballydoyle $600,000 in prize-money and ten times that in stud values.
The jockey, after mulling over what had happened during the long Saturday night flight from Chicago, readily admitted that he had made a mistake. “There is no excuse, I should have pulled my stick through,” he said.
Spencer is the last in a long line of stars produced by Liam Browne but the master tutor of apprentices is concerned, not only by the Arlington Million but also by what he has seen in other races. “Jamie is doing too much of this sort of thing. It’s win at all costs and he is going to have to be careful because he could lose a lot. He’s only been race-riding about eight years and you need a lot of experience to cope in the top league. It’s going to be at least another five years before he is a true champion.”
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Pat Eddery, who was Ballydoyle stable jockey in Vincent O’Brien’s day, also watched the Chicago race and he has first-hand experience of what Spencer is going through. “When you come into any new job it’s pressure and you try too hard,” he said. “Jamie is an excellent rider but he is just doing a bit too much and that’s why things are not going that great for him.”
To be fair, Spencer’s handling of Powerscourt was totally out of character and smacked of a desperation almost certainly caused by the dearth of success for the stable at the top level this season. Two years ago Ballydoyle won 19 Group One races and, while the tally was down to nine last season, there has been only one this year. The chance to double his score seemed to bring a rush of blood to Spencer’s head.
Normally Spencer is ultra-cool in the saddle and he is one of the most naturally gifted riders seen for a long time. Whereas some riders have to anchor their mounts to stop them going too fast, Spencer gets his to relax by riding with a long rein and taking a gentle hold. He is also an exceptional judge of the pace at which races are run and is not hard on his mounts with his whip. He is running away with the Irish jockeys’ title race, so fulfilling predictions that he was a champion in the making ever since he rode his first Classic winner at the age of 17.
‘TP’ Burns also rode for Vincent O’Brien and won eight Classics as well as many races at Cheltenham. He has studied Spencer closely. “He breaks plenty of rules, maybe more than he should, but if he hadn’t got that dash he might not be as good. He is very ambitious but he has a good bit to learn.”
Spencer was widely expected to succeed Mick Kinane as stable jockey to Aidan O’Brien, the only surprise being that he got the call at the end of last season rather than a year or two later. The decision to appoint him to what is the best job in racing came from O’Brien rather than John Magnier and the stable’s other principal owner, Michael Tabor, who was always a big fan of Kinane’s riding. However the trainer and Kinane did not hit it off particularly well. There were no rows or arguments but there was no close rapport either, and O’Brien decided he wanted a younger man that he could mould more in his own image (one of the first things he did after giving Spencer the job was to ask him not to give interviews or let the press have his mobile number).
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The trainer and his new jockey have gelled, despite the poor season, to such an extent that Spencer’s position is safe for at least another year. He also rides work every week at Ballydoyle, whereas O’Brien was keen to keep Kinane away from the place. As a result Spencer, unlike his predecessor, has not found himself repeatedly picking the wrong one when there have been two or more runners in a big race.
But he has made mistakes that Kinane would never have done. Chicago apart, the most obvious was on Tycoon in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes. He got a long way back and tried to thread his way through the field on the inner on the final turn. Not surprisingly he got baulked and had to snatch up. Instead of finishing in the frame and boosting the horse’s value, he was only sixth.
However Eddery believes that the frequent suspensions are not a cause for concern. “I went through the same sort of thing when I was a kid. I got a lot of suspensions then but you mature as you get older, and Jamie will too with that job.”
In a brief Channel 4 interview on Tuesday Spencer resolved to mend his ways. “The jockey that makes the least mistakes is generally the best one and that is what I am going to have to work towards.”
Hopefully he will succeed. He has too much talent to waste it sitting suspended on the sidelines.