Does Horse Racing Really Need Jockeys?

Why do we have jockeys, anyhow? That’s the question we’ve been noodling on since the spectacle of the Preakness, where the steed Bodexpress lost his rider — or the rider lost his horse — and, as the Associated Press’s stunned scribe put it, “decided” to try to win the Preakness anyhow. For a moment, too, it looked like Bodexpress just might win. Then what would the patrons of Pimlico have done?This question is one of the most profound with which this newspaper has ever wrestled. It illuminates the fact that horse racing is about the horse. Well, you might ask, what in the blazes else might horse racing be about? Of course it’s about the blasted horse. In sharp contrast to, say, automobile racing, where the glory goes to the driver. If A.J. Foyt fell out of his car, his jitney would have no chance of winning the race.It’s not our purpose here to suggest that the jockeys count for nothing. The horse understands that it is important for the human’s self-esteem that a horse pretends that human beings are smarter. Most of your great horses are happy to play along. The truth, though, is that these thoroughbreds don’t have any more regard for the creature on their backs than Moby Dick had for your average barnacle.Another way to think about this would be to note that we are entering the era of driverless cars. A.J. Foyt, Sterling Moss, Danica Patrick, and Al Unser may have been great in their day. Sooner than anyone might imagine, though, we may be faced with races where the track is buzzed around by Formula One contraptions without any drivers at all. There might be a modicum of excitement.It’s not possible, though, to imagine horse racing without the horse. We’re not even close to it, and what if we were? What would be the point of some hundred-and-ten-pound horseless rider suspended 17 hands off the ground and leaning forward with a shred of rein in one hand and a crop in the other, flailing at the air — all while wafting around a dirt track at 37 miles an hour. The concept is ridiculous.The fact is that automobile racing is about the driver in the same way that ski racing is about the skier. When, say, Lindsey Vonn hurtled across the finish line, for crying out loud, no one was cheering the skis. Horse racing, though, is unique. No one is cheering the jockey, nor are they cheering the stable. They are cheering for the horse — heart, soul, and sentience.So why did Bodexpress shrug off the great jockey John Velazquez? You might as well ask why Bodexpress then ran for the center of the track. Maybe he thought he was Whirlaway, who tended to run to the outside rail. Or maybe Bodexpress was trying to make a point — no one, after all, expected John Velazquez to get up and try to finish the Preakness on foot.

Does Horse Racing Really Need Jockeys?

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