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Originally Posted by blackthroatedwind
I also admit that I'm hypercritical of riders.
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I don't think this is true. Anyone who watches races closely over a period of time, be it someone who has ridden, trained or otherwise, realizes what works and what doesn't work. Not only in terms of winning races and strategy but also in terms of abuse to the horse, and, flat out common sense. And, as the subtleties of the race riding part of the game reveal themselves, the small margin between winning and losing becomes apparent.
And it gets annoying, to say the least, when jockeys not only screw up repeatedly on the 'little' things but continually make glaring errors.
The game itself is incredibly behind the times. Other sports have coaches and support staffs that spend countless hours watching tape and planning strategy. Racing has a (more often than not clueless ---I write this confidently as these guys continue riding back jocks that blow races, costing them money) trainer giving instructions to an even more clueless jockey, while the jockey agent does everything BUT watch tape and offer advice as to how to improve. How can this model ever be successful or anything but frustrating?
I'm at the point these days where I just pass races in which I like a horse being ridden by a screwup jock, and, sure enough, the jock screws up. It's that obvious.