A JOCKEY’S amazing winning ride was branded ‘pointless and risky’ by a racing legend – after it almost came back to bite him.
The Sam Thomas-trained C’Est Different had been hammered in his first four runs for owner Dai Walters, finishing nowhere near the winner.
But he looked a totally different beast upped in trip for a 2m3½f handicap hurdle at Carlisle on Monday.
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Scooting clear under 3lb claimer Dylan Johnston, he was eight lengths ahead and going easily by the final flight.
It was then Johnson took his foot off the gas and allowed the horse to coast home – with almost disastrous consequences.
C’Est Different was eased completely as the post approached – and 9-1 Wee Alki made rapid headway under Jack Power.
For a second it looked like the unthinkable was going to happen.
And Johnston himself was surely worried as he was forced to give the well-punted 5-2 fav one nudge near the line to win by a quickly-closing three-quarters of a length.
It could have been a very different story – and Johnston would have been hit with a huge ban for failing to ride out.
As it was, the victory stood and it was Thomas who explained to stewards the ‘gelding may have benefitted from the step up in trip from 2m to 2m4f in a weaker race.”
Racing TV said the ride was ‘ever so cheeky’, but commentating legend Jim McGrath saw it differently.
He posted under a clip of the ride: “Pointless and risky.”
Explaining the ride, Johnston said: “The horse has run off the first mark he’s been given – and this race is a hell of a lot different than running against the likes of Diva Luna.
“It worked today but he has to improve again.
“We didn’t know if stepping up in trip would work – we stepped him up because he wasn’t running well enough over 2m!
“He had done his work and he’s still a big baby and pulled up a bit quicker than I thought he would.”
Not everyone was buying it, though.
One punter wrote: “There’s absolutely no need for it. Just get the horse home.
“If that ends the other way then he’d rightfully get all the flack in the world.”
And another said: “It’s not cheeky,it’s ridiculous and should be called out.”
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