The Steve Smith-Eccles Column

By Steve Smith-Eccles

As an ex jockey of some distinction (others words, not mine), I am often asked about various backing and laying systems and their chances of success. Now about now you probably expect a sales pitch, but that is not the case as I neither endorse nor pooh pooh anything I don’t understand, and as someone working in the heart of racing with real people and flesh and blood horses I am never interested in anything purely statistically based. One simple idea that was suggested to me many moons ago was the concept that racing is in reality run by gamblers and thus laying a horse drifting in the betting was a sure fire route to future wealth and happiness, and the more a horse drifted, the more you should lay it on the exchanges. In all honestly I took little notice at the time (or since), but did notice a prime example of why anyone following this simple system probably went bankrupt yesterday afternoon and will be seen on a street corner near you selling Big Issue within a matter of days. Step forward classy chaser Deep Purple, already the winner of eleven races in total and close to £200,000 in prize money and a winner first time out this season at Wetherby despite looking a little tubby in the paddock. Yesterday (Thursday) he was packed off to Huntingdon for the Peterborough Chase over two and a half miles, a distance he has won over before and probably the reason he opened up at 5.5 with the bookmakers yesterday morning. On course he opened up at a very generous 9.0 and drifted all the way out to 13.0 so according to the system he could not win but

Looking for his first victory in the Boylesports Gold Cup Paul Nicholls

sadly no one told the horse and he came home six lengths clear of nearest pursuer Tartak with a further five lengths back to the third. So, in conclusion, horses are not machines and although this result cost me zilch as I do not subscribe to such systems, those that do should be willing to learn a very salutary lesson.

Moving on to more positive news and we have some decent bets for you this weekend to follow up from last weeks winner in the shape of TWIST MAGIC who duly put his rivals to the sword in the Tingle Creek Chase. This week I will start you all off with Cheltenham and the Boylesports Gold Cup, the feature race of the day. My selection will be the Paul Nicholls trained POQUELIN who is currently trading at a best priced 7.0 which seems decent odds to me. He has only been raised one pound in the handicap for his four and a half length defeat by Irish raider Tranquil Sea in the Paddy Power Gold Cup last month which appears generous. He may have been a bit closer had he not been hampered and made a couple of jumping errors and I also expect to see a different horse on this better ground which will certainly help his jumping, and he can give trainer Paul Nicholls his first win in this important race.

Over hurdles the feature race is the Boylesport International at 15:05 and this looks to be between the two main protagonists Punjabi and CELESTIAL HALO, first and second in last years’ Champion Hurdle. Reports from Nicky Henderson’s yard suggest Punjabi is I great form on the home gallops but that although he will run a big race, he may not be 100% tuned up here, so however he performs he will improve considerably for the run. Celestial Halo, who was only a quarter length behind Punjabi last March has had the benefit of a run in the Elite Hurdle at Wincanton last month where he easily gave away lumps of weight to inferior opposition for a comfortable success, and although likely to go off a short priced favourite, he looks rock solid and this progressive five year old looks the type to further enhance his Champion Hurdle hopes for next March where he hopes to go one better,

At Doncaster CESARE runs in the two mile novice hurdle at 13:00 and he was a top class miler on the flat winning Group Two races and placing in Group Ones, and it doesn’t get much better than that! He has taken really well to jumping hurdles but the obvious concern is his stamina over two miles, but on a flat track like this and against moderate opposition he should never get out of second gear and should get the trip but the idea of Cheltenham against top class rivals may well be beyond him. Time will tell on that score but he is sure to be a false price on Saturday and I will not be having a bet but will watch the eight year old with great interest as I look forward to renewing our association on the schooling grounds here in Newmarket.

Bets Summary:

1pt Win POQUELIN 14:25 Cheltenham at SP

4pts Win CELESTIAL HALO 15:05 Cheltenham at SP

Special offer - e-mail Steve at theeck@smith-eccles.co.uk and quote "Priceform" for a FREE two week trial of his private tipping service, no strings attached".

Latest winners (from limited selections) include: Bangkok Pete Won 9/2, Kudu Country Won 13/8, Den Of Iniquity Won 11/10, Strawberry Won 9/4, Barbers Shop each way (placed 6/1), Lie Forrit Won 11/4, Vic Venturi 7/1 Raise You Five 100/30, Evening Sunset 13/8 Lie Forrit 11/4, French Opera 5/2, Moonlife 100/30, Rasmy 9/4, Black Eagle 5/2, Thrill 11/8, Timepiece 5/2, Special Duty 3/1, Fareej 5/4, Spanish Duke 9/4, Gripsholm Castle 100/30, Ordoney 2/1, Kirklees (7/4), Bab Al Salam (7/4). Other recent winners have included Palace Moon (9/4), Dafeef (13/8), Treble Jig (5/6), Elusive Pimpernel (7/2), Bounty Box (11/4), Ottoman Empire (15/8), Polly's Mark (5/2), Seta (11/8), Dick Turpin (6/5), Azmeel (10/11), Lowdown (2/1), Air Maze (7/4), Dubai Miracle (13/8), Splendorinthegrass (7/4), Emirates Dream (2/1), Strawberrydaiquri (6/5), Yeats (6/4), Canford Cliffs (7/4), Triple Aspect (15/8), Chachamaidee (5/4)

About Steve....

I was born and bred in a mining village in Derbyshire and prior to coming into racing the only thing I had ever sat on was a donkey on Skegness beach and the odd pit pony. My Dad used to watch racing on a regular basis and I would say to him that I was going to be a jockey when I grew up.

I was small as a child and I was influenced in the respect that you either went down the pit after school or you got out of the village so I looked for other directions to go in - racing was one of them.

Coming to the end of my schooling, father wrote off to three trainers - Frenchie Nicholson, Arthur Stephenson and Harry Thompson Jones in Newmarket. The latter was predominately a jumps trainer in those days but did have some Flat horses and he took me on a month's trial. I went down there on July 28 1970 and within weeks I was riding gallops and took to it like a duck to water. You started off by cleaning head collars and mucking out and then you were given your own horse to look after and then you moved on to two.

After three months I was riding work on a regular basis. Greville Starkey was his first jockey in those days and Lester Piggott used to come down on occasion as well so there were a lot of good riders around to learn from.
I have always been a great believer in jockeys being born with the ability to ride and it can be brought out so from an early stage Tom Jones must have seen that in. I was always going to be too heavy for the Flat so I started to do some schooling with Stan Mellor and also took to that quickly - within three and a half years I had my first ride in public over jumps.

After about four years I was riding regularly for the stable and then in five and a half years I took over as first jockey. At that time Tingle Creek was around, although he was getting towards the end of his career. The first time I rode him he won what is now the Tingle Creek Chase, it was the Sandown Pattern Chase back then, and won the race three times in all. The last time, when it was his retirement race, he actually broke his own track record. This was the horse that put Smith Eccles on the map.

My first Cheltenham Festival winner was in 1978 on a horse called Sweet Joe, who won the Sun Alliance. Zongelero was with Tom Jones as a four-year-old but he was sent down to Nicky Henderson with the proviso that I would ride him - that got my foot in the door with Nicky. Zongelero was one of the greatest bridesmaids in the game - I finished second on him in the Mackeson, the Massey Ferguson and the Hennessy.

I rode triple Champion Hurdler See You Then for Nicky in the mid-1980s also and it is phenomenal how it worked out with him. In the first one he was due to run in, John Francome was due to ride him but was badly shaken after a fall in the Arkle, the race prior to the Champion Hurdle. So within 10 minutes of the race, I picked up the ride and the rest is history.

I rode in a great time for National Hunt jockeys. Francome was probably the best but I also rode against Jonjo O'Neill, Ron Barry and later the likes of Peter Scudamore and Richard Dunwoody - some of the best there have ever been.

Tingle Creek probably provided me with my best memories. I was young and brave at the time and that style of riding really suited the horse - all he needed was to be pointed in the right direction. He either met a fence long or even longer - he would never get in close and fiddle. He never fell and I can't even remember him ever making a mistake.

In England I rode 868 winners and around the rest of the world another 30 or 40. My best season numerically was 68 and that actually put me second in the championship to John Francome. We did not have as many rides as there are these days so the numbers are bound to be smaller and there was not as much racing and more importantly there were no agents - you just rode for the stable you were attached to basically.

Since retiring from the saddle I have kept myself nice and busy at home in Newmarket riding work and schooling the young jumpers over hurdles and fences, while I take a lot of pleasure from helping out the next generation of stars in my position with the BHA helping the Conditional jockeys in the Hands and Heels series. Despite an army of unscrupulous tipsters with false names hiding behind PO Boxes you all know who I am (or the youngsters can look me up on Google) – a successful jockey who is lucky enough to offer the best of both worlds – all my contacts in the National Hunt world built up over too many years to mention with most of the very top names in the business, plus being based at the headquarters of flat racing here in Newmarket, and privy to all the latest gallop reports and stable gossip, which I use very effectively to help us all make our hobby pay rich dividends.

So, why not join me now at the reduced price, and help me to write the next chapter of a life spent in the sport we all love...

Steve Smith-Eccles runs the "The Eck " Horse Racing information service.