Blake Shinn On Being in front too early.

In Horse racing occasionally you will see or hear of a horse who led the race from the beginning to end, but more often than not, the front runners, run out of puff before too long and end towards the rear of the Field. This was seen in the 2008 Melbourne Cup where the three hot fancied Irish runners, led very early and set a very fast pace but then faded quickly before finishing by occupying 3 of the last 4 places in a field of 21 starters.
So generally, Jockeys don’t like to find themselves at the front too early, but sometimes it happens, whether they like it or not. The other day, Jockey Blake Shinn unexpectedly found his horse well in the lead and was extremely worried that His horse had peaked to early, but as the horse was traveling easy and as he felt the horse still could find a couple of lengths if he had to, he maintained his race game. Sure, his ride was nearly run down in the finish and only won by the narrowest of margins in the race’s 148-year history, but he still won.
Why? Because he didn’t give up or panic and try and dictate things mid-race but maintained the race he found himself in. Sure it was not what had been planned, hoped or even expected, but he kept going and won because of it, (and a whole heap of luck too.)
Yes, he was worried, but didn’t panic. In the after race interviews he was asked how he felt about winning and he repeatedly said, “relieved”, because He knew that he had found himself at the front too early but there was little he could do then about that then, and as the horse was traveling easy and as he felt the horse still could find a couple of lengths if he had to, he maintained his race game, and history shows Blake Shinn to be the Winning Jockey of the 2008 Melbourne Cup at the age of 21.
Often we will find similar situations to Blake in our own lives and race-plans. Sometimes, whether through bad planning, or just pure circumstance, we will find ourselves in situations we don’t really want to be in and we can be tempted to pull our horse up or try and change tactics mid-race, when in fact all we should be doing is continuing on and making the best we can of a bad situation. Sure, unlike Blake in this situation, we won’t always win the Melbourne Cup on our first try. But we will have more successes than failures, if we make the most of what life serves up in every race, rather than if we only try when conditions suit us.
So, how is your horse running today and are you making the most of what each race throws at you? Or are you still waiting for perfect conditions to even begin your ride?

Melbourne Cups King.

Well the Melbourne Cup has been won and lost for another year and life can return to normal again till next year. Before this year’s race, there was a big Brough-hah over the number of Foreign or overseas horses in it, with some wanting the number restricted to around five foreigners per race, to give the Aussie horses a better chance to win their own race. {Completely forgetting that before the other Foreign Horses were allowed to enter Australia, Kiwi Horses were often the winners, & with some even wanting to ban horses from there* too. (*New Zealand/Kiwi land!)}
Anyway, before this race, the Media was full of the prospects of these foreign horses and particularly three from an Irish Trainer’s stable. There was hardly any mention of the other horses, except that one writer, Ron Reed, in the Melbourne Herald Sun on the morning of the race, headlined his article, ”Ignore Bart at your peril”. He then went on to say such things as, “The cup is at the mercy of the invaders. Bookies and punters alike agree. Only history might have a different take on it.” And, “Respect the History.” He then went on to detail the history of the past 50 years since Bart Cummings as trainer, sent out his first runner in the race, way back in 1958.
Ron Reed then went on to play up the winning chances of Bart’s first runner, but also said this about Bart’s other runner in the Race, Viewed. “Viewed, the Brisbane cup winner, is not out of calculations either, and in fact the more you look at the field the more the Bart influence comes into play.” Well the race has run and History shows that Bart Cummings, 10 days short of his 81st Birthday, trained his twelfth Melbourne cup Winner with “Viewed” in 2008.
When asked for the secret of His success, Bart replied rather deadpan along the lines of, well you have the best staff and the best horses, feed them the best food and look after them right and the rest takes care of itself.
All this goes to show that to win you have to be genuinely in the race, and not give up mentally just because there are supposedly better horses from elsewhere in it too.
It means that you have to have confidence in yourself and your own horses, even if the rest of the world doesn’t.
It means that sometimes sheer class will win but at others, local knowledge and experience will also show out over the more showy prospects.
And it shows that taking care of the small details, like good staff, good horses a good food and Good conditions, help take care of the big things like winning the big races too.
So what can you learn from the "Bart Cummings” factor?
Things like, not letting your age stop you from trying one more time if you have the goods.
Like not resting on your laurels and saying eleven is enough. But going for number 12 anyway.
Like both giving and using the best.
Like using your experience, expertise and local knowledge.
So in closing, what do you need to adopt from Bart’s attitude and put into your own life experiences? Over to you for now.