Straight talking
Robin Oakley
My favourite, though almost inevitably apocryphal, story from the US elections so far: Hillary Clinton, on a school visit, invites pupils to question her. ‘OK, Mrs Clinton,’ says Benjamin, ‘why did you vote for the Iraq war when now you oppose it? Why did you achieve so little on healthcare reform? And why didn’t you do more about your husband’s philandering?’ As the would-be presidential candidate gulps, the school bell goes off loudly, signalling break, and everybody departs.
When they reassemble it is Elmer’s turn. ‘Why, Mrs Clinton, didn’t you vote against the Iraq war? Why didn’t you do more about Bill’s philandering? Why did you achieve so little on healthcare reform? Oh, and why did the school bell go off 20 minutes early... and where is Benjamin?’ A straight answer is always the best one as we were reminded at Sandown on Saturday when Straw Bear, a potential Champion Hurdle fancy owned by J.P. McManus and trained by Nick Gifford, was beaten by Nicky Henderson’s Afsoun. Why the failure? we inquired. Often in such circumstances, with an edgy owner standing by, you get a load of old flannel about the unsuitable going, a wrongly paced race or a hiccup in the horse’s preparation. From Nick, with JP’s racing manager Frank Berry standing by, the response was admirably candid. ‘He was beaten by a better horse on the day. He came to win his race and didn’t. We were outstayed.’ Winning trainer Nicky Henderson was equally straight, admitting that Afsoun gets too keyed up before his races. He will have to take his chance in the Champion Hurdle now, says Nicky, but he warned openly that, with the massive crowds and the drawn-out preliminaries, ‘Cheltenham gets to him’.
Jockey Paddy Brennan, who has been catching the eye this season with some beautifully judged rides and an outstanding record on novice chasers, is another whose candour is refreshing.
At only 26, Brennan has packed in useful experience with a range of top stables. He began with Jim Bolger in Ireland and had his first winner fewer than ten years ago at Gowran Park. When he became too heavy for the Flat, he moved to Britain and joined Paul Nicholls as a conditional. He went on to Paul’s Somerset rival Philip Hobbs where he worked his way up to be no. 2 to Richard Johnson. Then came the big break racegoers had been anticipating: an offer to be first jockey to Howard Johnson and his freespending millionaire owner Graham Wylie in the north when the yard mysteriously dispensed with the services of leading northern rider Graham Lee.
That brought the first big thrill of Brennan’s career, riding Inglis Drever to win the World Hurdle at last year’s Cheltenham Festival (though he had had his first Festival winner on the 40–1 shot Shamayoun in the Fred Winter Hurdle). But, equally surprisingly after their regular successes together, Paddy’s contract with Howard Johnson was not renewed after the first year. He remains as puzzled as the rest of us, saying only that ‘Howard is Howard’ and that Graham Wylie is a ‘true gentleman to ride for’. ‘Putting those colours on made me feel good about myself.’ But it is typical of such a focused young rider that Paddy goes on to say, ‘I learnt more in that year than I had in the rest of my racing career.’ Why? ‘Because I was riding better horses in better races and even when I was making mistakes I was making them on good horses. It teaches you a lot.’ He takes the positive from everything. In the Nicholls yard, where he suffered a badly broken leg schooling just as things were taking off for him, he says, ‘I learnt how to conduct myself, how to deal with things when they aren’t going so well.’ With Hobbs, ‘I just loved riding those winners.’ There is about him something of champion Tony McCoy’s intensity as he declares, ‘Passing the post in front means everything to me. I just live for it. Racing is my life.’ So when does he plan to be champion? ‘It’ll be a few years yet, but obviously it’s an ambition if I can stay injury-free.’ As with McCoy, there is endless self-examination in the search for perfection.
Give Paddy Brennan a compliment, as I did over his riding of Osana at Cheltenham where he nicked the race by stealing lengths at the start and judging the pace perfectly from the front, and he says, ‘It’s a great feeling when it works out and you say, “I’ve done it,” but there have been plenty of times I’ve stolen ten out of the gate, failed to keep going and finished last.’ Rebased in the south, he was rapidly snapped up as first jockey to Nigel TwistonDavies and they have become a formidable partnership. ‘He’s the best person I’ve ridden for. He wants to win as much as I do, but nine times out of ten he leaves me to decide the tactics. And most importantly he’s a good loser.’ The pair have a gentleman’s agreement, not a paid retainer, and Twiston–Davies, he says, is very good about letting him off to ride something better when the stable’s lesser lights are running. To the benefit of trainers like Charles Egerton, Tom George, Venetia Williams and Peter Bowen.
Twiston-Davies says of Paddy, ‘He thinks a lot. We discuss everything. He’s good at reading the race going on round about him, he’s good at presenting a horse to a fence and he’s a great judge of pace. He’s a great help schooling too, and if a horse loses he always says it is his fault.’ So is Paddy Brennan a good loser too? ‘No. He’s a terrible loser. Dreadful.’ Again, so very like McCoy.
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