Confession Time:
I backed a horse today because of its jockey. Or, to be more precise, the
jockey was the clincher . . . I probably would have backed it anyway, but I
had a smallish bet instead of a small bet.
The horse was Mac Five in R2 at Te Rapa and the jockey was L Rutherford.
Whenever I come across a race with ten or fewer starters I look through the
racing patterns of each runner and hope I can identify a sole leader. Mac
Five seemed pretty certain to fill the bill in R2 . . . there was one other
candidate (I've misplaced my Best Bets and can't recall who it was), but it
seemed more likely to trail; just as MF could have turned out to be a
trailer but was more likely to lead. I did break one of my rules when
backing MF in that it was having its first start past 1600m. But I figured
that, as five of its six starts had been at 1600m, it would be match fit and
the longer journey would increase its chances of becoming the pacemaker.
When I saw Rutherford engaged, I figured the chances of the horse leading
had increased to about 99 percent. If N G Harris is the uncrowned king of
the back runners, then Rutherford is the queen of the front runners . . .
this girl has a metronome in her brain. The Ritchies were putting her on
because they wanted the horse ridden in front.
Now, I didn't see the race nor hear it. I've seen the result, of course, and
notice that the margins are a ½hd, a hd and 6¼L. What I want to know is . .
. was I right? Did Mac Five lead all the way? Please don't tell me it
settled down last, swept around them on the turn and charged home to get up
on the line. I'd have to donate the money to charity if that's what
happened.
Gil
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