Post by degs74 on Mar 29, 2011 8:48:56 GMT 1
Great rides usually don’t get acknowledged unless the jockey wins, but Henry Brooke’s effort on Cool Baranca at Kelso on the 21st March warrants a special mention.
Brooke, 20, is a promising claimer attached to Donald McCain’s yard with a fair few winners this season. He was just moving Cool Baranca into contention when she made a howler at the fourth-last and fired the jockey over her head. She found an extra leg to save herself and, in the process of defying gravity to save himself, Brooke not only lost his irons but managed to push the bridle over the mare’s head.
Crucially, however, he managed to keep hold of the bridle – if he had let go it would have probably tripped her up. An inventory at this stage of what he had – tangled bridle in his left hand and whip in his right – and what he didn’t have – irons, steering or brakes – would have made uncomfortable reading had he been able to stop and think about it. His immediate future looked bleak let alone his continued participation in the contest.
Upsides him, Graham Lee shouted “well sat” while back in the Kelso weighing room there was a division in opinion as to what his next move should be; old jockeys were muttering to themselves that he should try and pull up or even bail out, while the cavalier young guns were roaring on his futile bravery.
In the saddle – not a totally accurate description of things – Brooke, with effectively no feet and no hands, had two sharpish left-hand bends and three hurdles still to negotiate but, whether this was a good thing or not, Cool Baranca had regained not only her composure but her competitive instinct and was right back in the firing line.
Waving his whip furiously around her head with his right hand, like someone conducting Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture on speed, to get her to turn at the bend, he not only got her round both corners and over the next two flights, but kept the game mare right in contention.
However, going to the last flight – an island hurdle was always going to be a problem – she was given the gentlest of nudges by one of the other runners and Cool Baranca, who had run a lot on the Flat so probably wondered what the hurdles were doing blocking her path anyway, rather sweetly ran around it but, of her own accord, rejoined the race to the line.
By this time the heroic Brooke had given up trying to ride a finish.
Brooke, 20, is a promising claimer attached to Donald McCain’s yard with a fair few winners this season. He was just moving Cool Baranca into contention when she made a howler at the fourth-last and fired the jockey over her head. She found an extra leg to save herself and, in the process of defying gravity to save himself, Brooke not only lost his irons but managed to push the bridle over the mare’s head.
Crucially, however, he managed to keep hold of the bridle – if he had let go it would have probably tripped her up. An inventory at this stage of what he had – tangled bridle in his left hand and whip in his right – and what he didn’t have – irons, steering or brakes – would have made uncomfortable reading had he been able to stop and think about it. His immediate future looked bleak let alone his continued participation in the contest.
Upsides him, Graham Lee shouted “well sat” while back in the Kelso weighing room there was a division in opinion as to what his next move should be; old jockeys were muttering to themselves that he should try and pull up or even bail out, while the cavalier young guns were roaring on his futile bravery.
In the saddle – not a totally accurate description of things – Brooke, with effectively no feet and no hands, had two sharpish left-hand bends and three hurdles still to negotiate but, whether this was a good thing or not, Cool Baranca had regained not only her composure but her competitive instinct and was right back in the firing line.
Waving his whip furiously around her head with his right hand, like someone conducting Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture on speed, to get her to turn at the bend, he not only got her round both corners and over the next two flights, but kept the game mare right in contention.
However, going to the last flight – an island hurdle was always going to be a problem – she was given the gentlest of nudges by one of the other runners and Cool Baranca, who had run a lot on the Flat so probably wondered what the hurdles were doing blocking her path anyway, rather sweetly ran around it but, of her own accord, rejoined the race to the line.
By this time the heroic Brooke had given up trying to ride a finish.