WE felt this was the pick of the WEDNESDAY WHINGE contributions for the week. It came from a VICTORIAN PUNTER who made an interesting comparison between top jockeys James McDonald and Blake Shinn. Here’s what GREG had to say:
‘A message for my punting mates. If you want value – and we all do – stick with Blake Shinn – he’s just as good a rider as Jmac but doesn’t get the same opportunities.
Take last Saturday for example. Compare the two. McDonald, in my opinion, gave the heavily-backed Angel Capital next to no chance of running down the classy Ninja in the Missile Stakes at Randwick, considering the time they ran.
In contrast, Shinn’s ride on the plunged Changing Colours in the last on the Caulfield Heath was nothing short of superb – as the majority of his rides have been since he returned from an injury enforced absence.
Unlike champion trainer Chris Waller, who pussyfoots around about the chances of his runners pre-race, Lucy Yeomans, the partner of Shinn, who prepares Changing Colours, basically declared the horse. And that was despite ‘concerns’ from some good judges like Mark Hunter that the mare had beaten ‘nothing’ at her previous win at Flemington.
Following the defeat of Angel Capital, the Waller ‘apologists’ are declaring the horse ‘disappointing’ last Saturday and highlighting that he has failed to win at his last nine starts now. Not a mention of the arguably terrible ride by their mate Jmac.
Here are the facts: Angel Capital had previously won four of his five first-up starts; He was unlucky at three Group 1 runs before a spell and should have won the William Reid. He had trialled super leading into this. I guess that backs their case that he should have done better.
The market-framers most certainly underrated the ability of Ninja. He is no slouch and there was no way Angel Capital could have conceded him that much start last Saturday. Given his closing effort we fail to see how anyone could declare the run ‘disappointing’. Time will tell.
And what happens if Angel Capital comes out and wins at one of his next two starts – these same critics of the horse will be ‘spin doctoring’ the champion qualities of Waller as a trainer. They’re different in Sydney.’
