It was a case of eyes for marketing Buzzword Bingo on Monday morning, when news emerged that a dozen leading riders, including Frankie Dettori, Ryan Moore, William Buick and Yutaka take, registered to compete in a new international jockeys league of 2026, with 10 hours of six races.
According to various reports, the new “revolutionary” competition, according to its organizers, will have “a league structure based on a franchise” designed to transform runners into “world icons” and engage a “new audience” for the race. The jockeys involved will have equity in their team, will act as “team director” for their franchise and, if everything goes as planned, will be in competition for a price of $ 15 million in the two years.
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Beyond the names of the runners involved – which also include James McDonald, Flavien Prat, Irad Ortiz Jr, Vincent Ho, Mickaël Barzalona and Christophe Lemaire – there is not yet much clarity on important information such as dates, places or the way in which the competition will be structured since the riders are not The race. For the moment, the objective seems to be to guarantee the commercial support and the sponsorship of the project as a whole and the teams of individual runners.
Innovation, new money and, hopefully, a new generation of enthusiasts for a sport with an aging fans base. It is, at first glance, an attractive perspective, and the co-founders of the project, John Ferguson and Lachlan Fitt, have a wide range of experience in industry. Ferguson is a former director general of the Operation Godolphin and current member of the British British Board of Directors Authority, while Fitt recently resigned by its role As an assistant CEO of the Endain's Australian Brack game group.
At the same time, however, and although there are undoubtedly very talented names on the list of horsemen, the simple fact remains that sport is called horse racing for a reason. It has been a source of frustration for promoters for decades – how to persuade people to get involved with athletes when athletes cannot speak? – And trying to persuade them to engage with the jockeys is not exactly the thought of the blue sky.
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The Shergar Cup, a team -based team event in Ascot in August, has existed for a quarter of a century, while the Jockeys International Championship has long been a popular characteristic of the Hong Kong Annual International Event in December.
But these events are, essentially, just a little fun before the serious things with the best horses begin. To be something more than that, or provide a significant comparison between the capacities of the riders involved, the new league should take into account the variable chances that horses participate but without making it too complex for its audience to understand.
The role of a jockey, after all, is to maximize the chance of a horse by doing it from start to finish as quickly and effectively as possible. If a rating of ratings reproduces at the house of a foreigner 25-1, the finalist's rider may well have done his job much better than that of the winner, but no jockey can never make a horse work faster than his genes, the physical and the preparation will allow it.
This does not want to suggest that there is something wrong with a little fun, and although the flag waving the Shergar Cup is not to everyone's taste, it was the second largest draw in Ascot outside the Royal Reunion last year.
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With his speech on a price fund of $ 15 million, however, and an affirmation of Fitt that “the concept that we have developed with our foundation jockeys can help to revolutionize the world breakage in the years to come”, the World Jockeys League seems to aim to be more than a slideshow.
Fakenham 2.15 Collingham 2,45 Miss Fedora 3.15 Back in the Bay 3.45 Lenjoleur de Palma 4.15 Glynn 4.50 Dream fever
Blue trench 2.30 Herja 3.00 Tropical vaxe 3.30 Baseline 4.00 Geuptheyard 4.30 Princess Keri 5.00 Gavin
Worcester 5.48 Tropical Talent 6.18 Pottlerath 6.48 Ebony Warrior 7.18 Trail campaign 7.48 Plus 8.18 compensation
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Wolverhampton 6.30 LEDNIKOV 7.00 CALLISTO DREAM 7.30 Yellow CARD (NB) 8.00 Take the boat (NAP) 8.30 Miss Dandylion 9.00 Cooramook
There are still small precious details available, and there can be a cunning plan to make the league a significant competition between the jockeys of very different race horizons. Perhaps this will also find the fresh public he is looking for, but at least from the point of view of this fan, a racing company that relegates horses to the roles of bras seems to be missing.
