Victoria Pendleton to train as a jockey

Spilletta

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Just heard about this on Radio 5 news, and think it will be interesting to follow. Sounds like she's got a good team around her, and if she doesn't make it, it won't be from lack of trying.

I wonder what other amateur jockeys think, especially when they've been plugging away for years working towards any opportunity they can get. But I hope, overall, it will be a positive thing for the sport.
 

Exploding Chestnuts

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The name seems familiar, is she famous?
Oh RPost says she is a cyclist, but 5 weeks .......nope.......... the paperwork and so on............. unless she has started it ........
Main disadvantage is lumps of lead she has to carry.
I am pretty sure she will have done some work on the equiziser
 
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LittleRooketRider

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Of course I wish her all the best and good on her etc...but I'd be lyingif I said this didn't irritate me
I mean myself and others across all spheres of equestrian work hard to try and make a dent in our dreams etc. and then a big name sits on a horse once and gets the top trainers and horses thrown at them. Fair? I think not.
 

Exploding Chestnuts

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Life is not fair [and of course you have already worked that out], but I think that racing has an exclusivity problem and if this helps to break down the barriers and get people to go to the races, or even consider it as a career option, I am OK with it. Yes amateurs have spent years and failed to secure a ride at Cheltenham , but that is the luck of the draw, to some it is due to deciding to ride for particular trainers, if anyone wants to ride for top trainers they have to form a queue.

TV and Radio editors consider that "sport" programs are about football, this makes a refreshing change.

BTW have you noticed CH4 Morning line and C4 coverage have reverted to coverage of racing, and not trying to be some sort of "go to" for the Saturday punter. I hope we on HHO had some influence on that nonsense.
 
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yorks

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She is aiming for Cheltenham 2016 as an amateur jockey.
Good luck to her. It takes guts to aim so high when she has never ridden before.
 

Exploding Chestnuts

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Yes she might well do it in a year, if rides out 3 every morning and takes a lesson every afternoon, it is possible, she won't lack toughness or fitness..
 

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Different thing, but she failed miserably on Strictly and seemed to be constantly in tears because she just couldn't 'get it'. She seemed to have no balance (strange for a cyclist) or rhythm. I admired her grit and determination as a cyclist and a top athlete, but I found her winey and irritating on SCD. I am sure she has had plenty of tumbles from her bike over the years, but she's going to need to be as hard as nails if she wants to be a jump jockey.

She can have the very best people around her, but if she doesn't have the mental stamina for it, then no amount of tutoring is going to help her succeed.


I think she is used to winning on her bike hence her perceived toughness. Not sure that struggling from the bottom in a new sport will necessarily suit her. However, she will understand the importance of fitness and hard work.

It all sounds like a bit of a publicity stunt pushed by Betfair and I am not sure it does racing any good really. If she does well, the assumption will be that its 'easy' and if she fails, it will drag racing down as a bit of a joke.

But as with anyone who attempts the total madness of race riding over NH fences, I hope she remains safe and sound.
 

Spilletta

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Radio 5 have continued to mention this on their sports bulletins. Also, they are going to be discussing it during "The Friday Sports Panel" programme which starts at 1pm this afternoon.

Out of interest, I checked the Cycling Weekly website and they've got it in their news section.
 

Exploding Chestnuts

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She won't get a licence to ride if she is not up to scratch, and I would think she might have to ride in a few races before qualifying for the Foxhunters [there are qualifications for the GN for example]
I don't watch Strictly, but if a few problems on the dance floor causes a flood of tears, well, she is not likely to make it in NH racing. The thing about cycling is that some athletes are just born to be better than the grafters, so in a way it is easy for them, there are very few "natural jockeys", the great McCoy was not born "a natural" he was a grafter.
 

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She won't get a licence to ride if she is not up to scratch, and I would think she might have to ride in a few races before qualifying for the Foxhunters [there are qualifications for the GN for example]
I don't watch Strictly, but if a few problems on the dance floor causes a flood of tears, well, she is not likely to make it in NH racing. The thing about cycling is that some athletes are just born to be better than the grafters, so in a way it is easy for them, there are very few "natural jockeys", the great McCoy was not born "a natural" he was a grafter.

There are loads of P2P jockeys who get licences and race, who are really bad riders - I use myself as a prime example ! (If I knew how to insert one of those smiley face things, I would do so here) !

Not relevent to the issue, but I personally find Victoria Pendleton a really irritating, whiney, spoilt princess type. If anyone from Betfair is reading this, please note I have just switched to Victor Chandler. On the basis of my record, this is going to cost you a large portion of your profits !

NB. editied to say, that despite her irritating personality, I think we have to admit she must be a grafter of the highest order, for her to win at the level she did - that doesnt come easy and I expect she had to dig deep.
 
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popsdosh

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Luckily to my mind she has enough good people around her to advise her ,including to tell her if it wont happen!!
 

LittleRooketRider

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Different thing, but she failed miserably on Strictly and seemed to be constantly in tears because she just couldn't 'get it'. She seemed to have no balance (strange for a cyclist) or rhythm. I admired her grit and determination as a cyclist and a top athlete, but I found her winey and irritating on SCD. I am sure she has had plenty of tumbles from her bike over the years, but she's going to need to be as hard as nails if she wants to be a jump jockey.

She can have the very best people around her, but if she doesn't have the mental stamina for it, then no amount of tutoring is going to help her succeed.


I think she is used to winning on her bike hence her perceived toughness. Not sure that struggling from the bottom in a new sport will necessarily suit her. However, she will understand the importance of fitness and hard work.

It all sounds like a bit of a publicity stunt pushed by Betfair and I am not sure it does racing any good really. If she does well, the assumption will be that its 'easy' and if she fails, it will drag racing down as a bit of a joke.

But as with anyone who attempts the total madness of race riding over NH fences, I hope she remains safe and sound.

She won't get a licence to ride if she is not up to scratch, and I would think she might have to ride in a few races before qualifying for the Foxhunters [there are qualifications for the GN for example]
I don't watch Strictly, but if a few problems on the dance floor causes a flood of tears, well, she is not likely to make it in NH racing. The thing about cycling is that some athletes are just born to be better than the grafters, so in a way it is easy for them, there are very few "natural jockeys", the great McCoy was not born "a natural" he was a grafter.

Another who finds her irritating and pathetic and not just on SCD, I really can't imagine her coping with the demands of racing/riding.
 

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I'm loving the description 'a cyclist' - even though I dont follow cycling I recognise her name as being some one who has won multiple Olympic medals and many other competitions :)

I also recognised her as someone who needed significant help from a sports psychologist to get where she did, so in my option tough she ain't......

I have never watched Strictly so cannot comment :D
 

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I say good luck to her! Will be interesting to see how this goes. As Bestdogdash says she must be a grafter given her success in cycling so not sure she will have bother coping with the demands of riding but we'll see
 

Brochdoll

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Lévrier;12838416 said:
I'm loving the description 'a cyclist' - even though I dont follow cycling I recognise her name as being some one who has won multiple Olympic medals and many other competitions :)

I also recognised her as someone who needed significant help from a sports psychologist to get where she did, so in my option tough she ain't......

I have never watched Strictly so cannot comment :D

Interesting point about the sports psychologist. I suppose you could take from that though that while she needed help she was able to use that to overcome any issues she had
 

Nicnac

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Good luck to her. If she makes it, great. If she doesn't, then it's brought publicity to racing - specifically women jockeys.

Not in the same league, but KP brought little girls - especially those who like pink - to riding. Madonna's lessons with WFP brought public attention to eventing as does Zara Phillips (even though she's actually amazing and the Daily Fail insist on calling her a show jumper!)

No publicity is bad publicity.
 

bonny

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I think good luck to her and it will be good for racing's profile....I'm sure she will be successful, she couldn't have a better team behind her and with her background she's already ahead of a lot of people attempting raceriding for the first time. She will, no doubt get experienced chasers to ride, she's hardly going to be riding maidens and I think some of PN's ex chasers could just about go round on their own !!
 

Exploding Chestnuts

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I used to do a bit of cycling, so did follow it during those years, at which time there was no TV coverage except the Kellogs race series and the Tour, but with new technology and government initiatives, UK cycling currently has a bright clean image and there is more support for the athletes, but the track cyclists seem to last for one or two seasons and then their lights go out.
As for getting a knighthood for "services to the sport", now that rankles, they got it because of their Olympic medals., it was the people who put them there who gave their services to the sport.
I wonder how much she is getting from Betfair, I mean cash, just wondering how it impacts on betting, they must have a budget for this sort of thing.

P.S. I think you will find they all use sports pschychologists nowadays ....... even jockeys!
 
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WindyStacks

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As others have alluded to - perhaps not quite of the "temperament" to become an effective horsewoman. Otoh if she's going to have free rein to a sports psychologist... ;)
 

KautoStar1

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No publicity is bad publicity.



Sorry, don't entirely agree with that. Racing gets enough bad publicity from the animal rights lot, especially around this time of year with Cheltenham and Aintree on the horizon. Silly publicity stunts do no-one any favours.
 

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I don't see a problem with her having used a sports psychologist in the past, surely its to give her a mental edge, its hardly likely that she needed one because she couldn't get out of bed in the morning.

I cant see Paul Nicholls pandering to her either and he is known for speaking his mind and if she isn't up for the job Im sure he will tell her.

My guess is her biggest challenge will be if she ever loses a horse on the race course and if she will be able to cope with this and move on.
 

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She was a whiny victim as a cyclist (moaning about how her teammates treated her), she was even whinier after retiring and I've heard she was pretty bad on Strictly too. I'm afraid to say the woman drives me absolutely nuts. I think she might succeed actually, physically she'll have few problems and she's got the desire to win, I just don't want to have to hear her talk about it! I can hear the moaning already!

(Sorry, she really does drive me batty though....reminds self to be nicer to others...)
 

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really interesting to see how people don't rate her because she's used a sports psychologist. All athletes at that level use them, so what? and she must have had some talent and 'grafted' somewhat to get where she did (what is it they say-bravery isn't not being scared, its doing it even though you are-or something) She's now going to try NH having not ridden before? bl00dy hell, good on her and even if she doesn't make it, good on her.
 

bonny

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really interesting to see how people don't rate her because she's used a sports psychologist. All athletes at that level use them, so what? and she must have had some talent and 'grafted' somewhat to get where she did (what is it they say-bravery isn't not being scared, its doing it even though you are-or something) She's now going to try NH having not ridden before? bl00dy hell, good on her and even if she doesn't make it, good on her.

Agree with this, I don't see why people are having a go at her. All the cyclists in the British team used psychologists, it's one of the reasons that they won so many medals
 

WindyStacks

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Sod it, I'll be the one to say it as a few people aren't getting the undertones - there's nothing wrong with using a SPORTS psychologist to give you the competitive edge. We are alluding to the fact that the lady in question perhaps needs to talk through some other "issues". Issues which will make her bad with horses.
 

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Fair play to her, however I can't help but think her target is a bit unrealistic.

If it brings more publicity to female jockeys, and showing them in a more positive light then I can't see it as a bad thing - I don't see it as any worse than Katie Price deciding she is going to be a dressage rider and riding at HOYS.

Will she actually become a jockey and continue competing as a jockey? imo, I can't see her sticking with it. but then you never know.

I do think having no horse experience, and learning under the watch of professionals gives her an advantage - no bad habits to correct etc, but I do doubt she'll be near the standard she needs to be within a year.
 

bonny

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Sod it, I'll be the one to say it as a few people aren't getting the undertones - there's nothing wrong with using a SPORTS psychologist to give you the competitive edge. We are alluding to the fact that the lady in question perhaps needs to talk through some other "issues". Issues which will make her bad with horses.

Unless you know her personally then you have no idea as to her issues. Give her a chance instead of knocking her before she's even started. She has the best advisers you could get in NH racing, I don't suppose they would have got involved unless they thought it was a doable ambition. I see no reason at all why it can't be a success.
 
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