04/26/24
December 29, 2005
Premature Jubilation: Reining in his horse Central House, standing upright in the saddle and jubilantly punching the air before a crowd of 20,000, Irish jockey Roger Loughran, 25, celebrated victory in only his second professional race at the Paddy Power Dial-A-Bet Chase Tuesday. Unfortunately, he was still more than 80 yards from the finish line, having mistaken a birch stick for the winning post. His horse finished third, costing himself $85,000 and gamblers an estimated $1.7 million on the 11-4 favorite.
I suppose jokes referring to the chaps nationality would be a be a bit infra dig?
posted by Fat Buddha at 03:55 PM on December 29, 2005
Great story. And good one, steelcity. Great stuff.
posted by worldcup2002 at 04:05 PM on December 29, 2005
The errant jockey was booed by a small section of the crowd en route to the stewards’ room, where he was slapped with a 14-day ban. Why'd they need do to ban him? It wasn't enough that he lost and was already embarrassed? btw, looks like it was an honest mistake. The jockey had only turned pro less than two weeks ago, and the horse trainer (a retired jockey) said he almost made the same mistake himself years ago. Maybe they should make the markers more distinguishable.
posted by worldcup2002 at 04:10 PM on December 29, 2005
I suppose jokes referring to the chaps nationality would be a be a bit infra dig? There's an obvious one itching at the base of my brain, but I can't think of it. Hit me.
posted by yerfatma at 04:35 PM on December 29, 2005
It's okay. Lots of jockeys have this problem.
posted by chicobangs at 04:42 PM on December 29, 2005
Nooooooooo fucking way yerfatma, I spend a large part of my working life cautioning against stereotyping on the grounds of race or nationality; I just know that in my old Catholic, predominantly Irish schools, the merriment would be merciless!
posted by Fat Buddha at 04:56 PM on December 29, 2005
Central House gets back to the stables later that day, all the other horses say "why the long face?" Boom boom. I watched this live on TV, and the jockey was pretty embarrassed. I don't know how he got confused, because there were no markers or lines on the ground, or anything like that. He hadn't even got to the grandstand (you know, where they would logically put the winning post?). Rush of blood to the head! It looked like an honest mistake, but a 14 day ban is fair enough. You'd probably want a 14 year ban if you had any money on him... This kind of thing is not uncommon in cycling too.
posted by afx237vi at 05:09 PM on December 29, 2005
You know how there are false starts? I guess we could call these false finishes. We should have a post about these: Famous false finishes ... frickin' funny fodder for flappery.
posted by worldcup2002 at 08:53 PM on December 29, 2005
Why'd they need do to ban him Most racing jurisdictions have a penalty for 'failing to ride your mount out' or something. It is in there so that all jockeys are supposed to be trying for the whole length of the race, even if out of the places. It has to do with measuring form between all horses. On a marginally related topic, but too good to waste: The recently deceased Australian billionnaire (and compulsive gambler) Kerry Packer kept a string of racehorses. In a major race in Sydney, the jockey took Packer's horse through a crowded field and won by a head. Packer came up to the jockey afterwards and said 'Great ride son.' 'Thanks Mr Packer' came the reply, with the jockey expecting one of the generous tips the owner was famous for dispensing. Packer eyed him and said 'Pity I had 7 million on the horse that came second, you little c...'.
posted by owlhouse at 10:39 PM on December 29, 2005
Thanks for the explanation, owlie. And good story, too.
posted by worldcup2002 at 10:57 PM on December 29, 2005
i never have premature ejubulation