I NEVER rode work for Toby Balding but I’ve heard plenty to convince me of his impact on racing.
Glowing tributes have followed his passing but what resonates with me is all the talk about how he conducted his business.
Balding is credited with being a catalyst for change in racing. He gave young jockeys the kind of encouragement that allowed them to ride with confidence; to allow some, like AP McCoy, to blossom. AP credits Toby Balding as one of the major influences in his career and if the ingredients sound pretty straightforward then they weren’t always found in yards up and down the country.
There was a tradition in the past that suggested trainers ran yards in military fashion. Race riding is not for the faint-hearted and from some of the old stories I’ve been told, you’d need an even steelier heart to endure some of the regimes.
The fear of making mistakes can be crippling for any jockey, especially young jockeys. This is why encouragement and support can be so liberating.
Generally speaking the culture has changed. Trainers now enjoy better friendships with their jockeys and the rule for success has softened without losing any element of professionalism.
I was reminded of this again when I rode a winner for Kim Bailey in Wolverhampton last week. I’d been pestering the trainer for weeks to ride Sunblazer before getting the call days later to tell me that all my pestering had paid off.
“What do you want me to do,” I had asked before taking the mount. “I don’t know,” said Kim. “That’s why I booked you,” came the laugh. But when you get a reaction like that it gives you a big confidence boost and in the best case scenarios you end up first past the post.
If there was a counter to that, then I returned to Wolverhampton on Saturday night to ride a horse called Glimmer for Laura Young.
The next day my little girl Aoife was being christened so I was up against it in terms of trying to get everything done. In situations like that you really do need an understanding trainer.
