RACING/WHIP RULES:BARRY GERAGHTY hasn't fallen foul of the controversial new whip rules in Britain but the top jockey admits they could yet impact on how often he rides across the Irish Sea. As number-one rider to the top Lambourn trainer Nicky Henderson, Geraghty has spent the last few seasons criss-crossing from Ireland to Britain and the former champion jockey remains hugely successful in both countries.
Unlike Ruby Walsh and Tony McCoy, he has not breached the whip rules which restrict jump jockeys to using the whip eight times in a race but their impact has been obvious to him during the opening weeks of the season.
“I’ve had very few whip suspensions anyway. I counted up seven that I’ve got over 15 years, and four of them were for one day each. So I wouldn’t be a jockey that uses the whip a lot. But every time I travel over to England I have to be conscious of something that was never an issue for me before. And that’s not as straightforward as some people seem to think,” the jockey said yesterday.
“Things are really only getting going over there now but if I did pick up a five-day ban, and was looking at 10 days next time, I wouldn’t be in a big rush to go over there for some of the ordinary meetings.
“As it is, you are very aware of the whip rules every time you ride. There are things that you used to take for granted that are not as straightforward anymore. If one makes a mistake, and you give it a couple, you know that’s part of your eight. You end up counting, but that’s not always possible.
“I haven’t been involved in a really tight finish in England yet this season but I was involved in a tight finish on a horse of Edward O’Grady’s (Capellanus) at Galway a few weeks ago and in a situation like that there’s no way you can count. If you’re putting everything in, everything in your body is going, from your big toe up. And if you take the time to count, you aren’t going to win,” he said.
Geraghty’s main focus when he rides in Britain is on Henderson’s good horses in the good races and he expects that to continue. However, in terms of secondary midweek races, he calculates he will know more about the frequency of his Irish Sea travels by Christmas.
Walsh has already said he will pick and choose his trips to ride for Paul Nicholls while McCoy has forecast a “long winter” as jockeys struggle to adapt to the new regulations. “The mood over there is poor enough and there’s negotiations going on behind the scenes,” Geraghty added. “Only time will tell what happens – I’m glad to be going to Clonmel tomorrow!”
In other news Sizing Europe has been taken out of the King George at Kempton but trainer Henry De Bromhead hasn’t ruled out a return to three miles later in his career. The champion chaser ran second to Quito De La Roque at Down Royal last weekend.
“I thought it was a phenomenal performance from him on the day. I was thrilled with how he ran and it was just a shame he couldn’t win. We have a few options now, including the Tingle Creek and the John Durkan.
“We’ve not entered him in the King George this year and I think we’ll stick at two and two-and-half miles for the time being. But he’s clearly not far away from getting three miles. I’d say he probably would stay on a bit of decent ground.”
