Overrated Jockeys

[Dunbar]

Originally Posted by SentToStud

Apprentices are overrated. LeParoux, Rosie, Garcia. Cannot put them in the same sentence as top riders until they prove it after dropping the bug. 5 lbs may not be enough to win any one race, but it means an awful lot over several hundred races. Whatever happened to Foglesonger?

Jockeys who dominate lesser circuits are overrated. I.E., Bravo looks like Arcaro every year in Jersey, but looks very ordinary at Gulfstream. Happens every year. Another is Castro. Doing ok at Monmouth but last year at Calder, he looked great on everything he rode. Now, his inexperience is being exposed and there's been some races he's looked just awful, especially routing on turf. There are very few, if any, top jocks at lesser tracks who can compete with the big boys... Ramon, arguably can. Russell Baze? Nope. Castro? No. Jeremy? Arguably maybe, but I say no.

As you suggest, apprentices may be over-rated skill-wise, but the weight allowance sometimes makes them look good. The top apprentices usually have a pretty good ROI.

In fact, isn't this a pretty good argument against those that say weight isn't important at all in capping? We routinely see apprentices drop by the wayside after they lose the bug.

I agree with what you said about the jockeys from lesser circuits.

--Dunbar