Dead horse at Aintree today

I thought they just handicapped horse so it carried x weight with jockey weight forming a part of that

So, jockey weighs 10st horse handicapped to carry 11st 7 so that's added on

Jockey weighs 11st horse handicapped to carry 9st6 oop gotta find another jockey

How does it work ?
 
FieldOrnaments said:
I thought they just handicapped horse so it carried x weight with jockey weight forming a part of that

So, jockey weighs 10st horse handicapped to carry 11st 7 so that's added on

Jockey weighs 11st horse handicapped to carry 9st6 oop gotta find another jockey

How does it work ?
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A low handicapped NH horse (jumps) might be carrying 10 stone.
 
Is the 'handicap calculations for dummies' I can look at anywhere please....?

Although the more I learn the more fiercely I feel that we really ought to just do away with racing entirely
 
FieldOrnaments said:
I thought they just handicapped horse so it carried x weight with jockey weight forming a part of that

So, jockey weighs 10st horse handicapped to carry 11st 7 so that's added on

Jockey weighs 11st horse handicapped to carry 9st6 oop gotta find another jockey

How does it work ?
Click to expand...
Horses are handicapped based on their rating, the better the horse the more they will be handicapped to carry.
 
Wikipedia says "To supplement the combined weight of jockey and saddle, up to the assigned impost, lead weights are carried in saddle pads with pockets, called lead pads"
So it does include jockey weight?
 
In handicap races the horses are rated on their past form, and that is how the weights are allocated, the jockey doesnt come into the decision. The better form the horse has the higher the weight it has to carry, the owner and trainer then decide on the jockey. If there is a jockey who gets on well with the horse/usually rides it etc and is heavier than the allocated weight, the jockey either starves/sweats to make the weight, or a lighter jockey is used.
 
https://www.thejockeyclub.co.uk/the-racing/racing-explained/jockeys/weighing-in/

Each horse in a race has to carry a certain amount of weight. To make sure that it does so, all jockeys must weigh out before a race to make sure they and their kit (including the saddle) are the right weight. If a jockey is lighter than the weight the horse has to carry, the difference will be made up by thin lead weights in a special saddle cloth.

The weight a horse is required to carry in a race comprises the jockey, their race riding attire plus the horse’s saddle.

Famously the former champion jockey AP McCoy had to work really hard at 5’10” tall to maintain a racing weight of 10 stone 3lbs which was nearly 2 stone less than his natural weight. He had to follow a punishing regime to do this.
 
FieldOrnaments said:
Ok.... Thank you.
So why the push for jockeys to weigh as little as possible?
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They get more rides that way. No point weighing 9st if you want to be a flat jockey - you'd be sat at home, watching the racing on the tv. Likewise, an 11st jump jockey is going to be waiting around for very few opportunities and if you are heavy, then only the higher rated horses will be allocated the higher weights and you won't have had the experience to ride them.
 
IIRC saunas were standard fare on nearly all racecourse pre-covid. Covid period they were shut and since covid they have been removed from all (?) racecourses.

Jockeys are seen running the courses in sweatsuits pre-racing to achieve the same effects.

Racing weights have been increased for flat jockeys a good few years ago. Iirc flat weights used to start at 7stone but the bottom weight was raised to 8 stone minimum, 10 stone max on the flat (less any claims by apprentice jockeys). For NH weights range from 10 stone to 12 stone with again claims for conditionals reducing weights below 10 stone sometimes.

When you look at jockeys from decades ago (thinking the likes of Willie Carson) they were so much shorter than todays jockeys (similarly for NH jockeys). Weights, jockeys sizes and jockeys nutritional advice have vastly improved over recent years.

The old days of laxatives and crazy jockey diets are long gone (unless the jockey themselves have weight problems and choose, despite advice, to go down those sorts of routes).
 
Beausmate said:
They get more rides that way. No point weighing 9st if you want to be a flat jockey - you'd be sat at home, watching the racing on the tv. Likewise, an 11st jump jockey is going to be waiting around for very few opportunities and if you are heavy, then only the higher rated horses will be allocated the higher weights and you won't have had the experience to ride them.
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Oh thank you this makes sense.

The more I learn the more I dislike racing, and I wasn't a fan to begin with.
Thank you to those who've politely explained to me how it works. :)
 
Its preferable for the jockey to be the exact weight the horse is allocated. Human weight is deemed to be easier to carry than lead weight. Sometimes the weights are very low and jockeys who dont make that weight, dont get rides. Its brutal.

There used to be a minimum weight limit in eventing at the higher levels, and lead was used to make the weight up. It gave an advantage to men who naturally weigh more. But it was abolished a while ago, so I guess ot now gives an advantage to smaller women.
 
FieldOrnaments said:
That's nuts? It's 2026 we have self driving cars and camel racing uses robots yet horse racing still requires people do to that?!!

The industry really is rotten to the core: this isn't a case of a few bad apples ruining the barrel, it's a case of the only fix to this blight is razing the orchard to the ground
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They do the same things in boxing to not be too heavy in their chosen weight category, so it isn't just racing. Very unhealthy.
 
Tbf to the racing industry, courses are (having to thanks to the BHA) improving facilities to ensure jockeys have provision of the correct food, and a choice of said foods, provision of warm up equipment, space to wait pre race that isn't the weighing room etc. On course saunas were banned in 2021 too so jockeys cannot sit in one for hours pre race anymore, they're on site fitter, more healthy, and in a better state.

It was one off the most interesting parts of the Goodwod tour I did last year, and the clerk of the course seemed to personally care about that aspect as much as he did the course itself.
 
teapot said:
Tbf to the racing industry, courses are (having to thanks to the BHA) improving facilities to ensure jockeys have provision of the correct food, and a choice of said foods, provision of warm up equipment, space to wait pre race that isn't the weighing room etc. On course saunas were banned in 2021 too so jockeys cannot sit in one for hours pre race anymore, they're on site fitter, more healthy, and in a better state.

It was one off the most interesting parts of the Goodwod tour I did last year, and the clerk of the course seemed to personally care about that aspect as much as he did the course itself.
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Well I can't imagine watching people engage in what's basically self harm was very nice...
 
For genuinely overweight people who've struggled to do so via other means? If it improves your health, go for it 👍 just be aware that these drugs aren't overly well understood and can have side effects and don't use for vanity alone. For T2 diabetes they are an incredible breakthrough as well and could save the NHS tons of money in the long run.
 
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