‘More stops and starts than a faulty engine’

Darren Edwards rues a lack of match practice thanks to the weather gods

WE may have been granted a reprieve from the rain — at least for now — but the effects of the deluges are certainly still being felt. It’s a cliché, but practice makes perfect, and it has been in short supply.

The more you do something, the better you tend to get at it, or the easier it gets. In my experience that applies across all disciplines of riding, and certainly as a jockey.

I have mused plenty about the disruptive weather in recent columns because, after all, it is nearly May and the pointto-point season has stopped and started more times than a car with a faulty engine. Notwithstanding missing much of December due to injury, I estimate that I have had about 50% fewer rides this season than at the same point in any of the past four seasons.

‘TWICE AS FAST’

THE more races you ride in, the easier it becomes to judge pace, get a good position, see a stride at a fence and ride a powerful finish. You miss a weekend because the meeting was waterlogged or your horse did not run because the ground was bottomless, and all of a sudden the horses feel like they are going twice as fast, you miss getting the perfect position, you see a stride — three, two, one... and your mount says one more. And when it comes to riding a finish, your legs are already back in the changing tent.

EXTRA POUNDS

UNLIKE other equestrian disciplines, you also have to factor in the regulation of weight. For some jockeys it is virtually a case of visiting the local church to borrow enough lead to make the weight (typically anywhere from 10st to 12st 7lb) but for others, missing a weekend means that’s not necessary. I include myself in that: as I balance life out of the saddle with a professional career, missing a weekend means I become 3lb heavier!

All in all this season has been far from perfect, but we must try not to let it dampen our enthusiasm and instead enjoy what is left of this year’s racing.