Sometimes, we just have to learn the hard way.
If you can get hold of the video of Race 6 at Doomben last Saturday, you will be able to see an object lesson in how apprentices learn their trade. Boris Thornton and Ruby Ride put on a display of riding biff and bang that even the toughest of senior riders would have struggled to match!
It all went like this.
Ruby Ride was on Rosie Posie, a lovely grey mare and Boris Thornton was riding the favourite, Desmons Pride. At the 700 metre peg, they were racing second last and last, with Thornton on the outside. They were together all through the race, with another runner, Don’t Deny Us, creating a pocket for Boris to seal Ruby into. But fate interfered, and Don’t Deny Us unfortunately broke down, flattening Rosie Posie, and letting Boris pull a length in front. But the battle had only just begun.
Rosie Posie poked up on the inside again just before the 600 metre mark, and the riding was tight, very tight. So tight in fact that the horses actually jostled each other for around 300 metres, with Boris determined to keep Ruby in a pocket – and Ruby equally determined to get out! The battle resulted in Boris losing his near side iron just before the home turn, and the video clearly shows him recovering the iron as Desmons Pride dropped back to last. The two horses then made their runs to the post together, with Boris determined to keep Ruby pinned inside his horse and Ruby trying to push Boris out of the way. Problem was that Rosie Posie isn’t a big mare, ands she just didn’t have the muscle power to shift Desmons Pride. That meant Ruby had to ease across Desmons Pride’s heels, lose a length or so, and try to come home. Come home she did, but the damage had been done and she finished a gallant fourth to Boris, who got Desmons Pride home in a photo.
Never cross a woman! Ruby fired in a protest – 4th against 1st – for interference from the 700 metres. It was ambitious, given the margin, but there was no disputing that the two horses had belted each other for around 400 metres. As it turned out, the stewards decided that the two apprentices were equally responsible for the fracas. In fact, they said that their riding bordered on being “improper” not simply competitive, and so they threw out the protest and declared correct weight.
But the story doesn’t end there. Apparently Ruby and Boris got a bit heated in the Stewards Room and harsh words were exchanged. Not the done thing in the mannered world of stewardship! The poor kids were fined $200 each for the manner in which they conducted themselves. But Ruby isn’t a kid, she’s 25 years old and has been around the traps long enough to know how to behave. Boris is 20 years old, so maybe needs to jump onto a learning curve.
At the end of the day, they both got a rap over the knuckles, Boris got his first Queensland metropolitan win, and Ruby goes on to fight another day. But I really don’t think that Boris is going to make Ruby’s Christmas card list!
Stuff like this all goes to make racing in Australia the fascinating sport that it is. Racing needs characters and controversies – and it needs competitive riding. Our jockeys race tighter and tougher than anywhere else in the world. Just ask Frankie Dettori! It takes a Joe Moreira or a Ryan Moore to mix it with our top jocks, and maybe young Boris is on the way into that upper bracket. Certainly, if a willingness to mix it up counts, he may very well get there.
As for Ruby, you can bet she’ll be watching for the chance to return the compliment.