Jason Weaver Retires.
Denis Lindridge
JASON WEAVER made the shock announcement on Friday that he will retire from
race riding.
Weaver celebrated his 30th birthday only last week, but his decision has
come due to him needing "a change of direction".
The South Wales-born jockey has ridden more than 1,000 winners worldwide
in a 14-year career and was one of only seven jockeys in British racing
history to ride a double century when finishing runner-up to Frankie Dettori
in the 1994 Flat jockeys championship.
That year was to also to provide Weaver with a Classic winner when he
partnered Mister Baileys to victory in the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket. He
went on to gain a further seven Group 1 successes.
"I came to the decision about four to five days ago," said Weaver. "I sat
down with my fiancee Fiona and we talked through the situation and I just
felt I needed a change.
"I have had a wonderful time in racing and I have had the privilege of
riding for some great trainers. If I look back I have had the opportunity to
have ridden all over the world and it has been a great experience."
Weaver started his career with Luca Cumani as a 16-year-old and was
crowned champion apprentice in 1993 with 60 winners.
At the end of that season he was installed as stable jockey to Mark
Johnstonand the following year proved truly memorable when partnership won
the 2,000 Guineas and Weaver notched up 200 winners.
What he claimed was his greatest moment also came that year when he drove
Mister Baileys five lengths clear of the pack coming out of Tattenham Corner
in the Derby, before fading into fourth behind Erhaab.
Then Weaver was always driven, ever since the day he sold his mother's
fridge-freezer behind her back to secure the balance to buy a pony.
Lavinia Fontana in the Haydock ParkSprint at Haydock and Belle Genius in
the Moyglare Stud Stakes at The Curragh provided him with further Group 1
victories in 1994 and the next three seasons yielded annual three-figure
totals.
Weaver was seen at his best when partnering Double Triggerto victory in
the 1995 Ascot Gold Cup and was back to claim another Group 1 winner at
Royal Ascot the following year when partnering Bijou d'Inde to victory in
the St James's Palace Stakes.
However, the rewards over the past four years have not been so fruitful
and last season he picked only 48 winners from 494 rides.
That was instrumental in his decision to quit the saddle as was a battle
to maintain a comfortable riding weight.
Weaver said: "I have been dragging weight off day in day out and
itbecomes unpleasant.
"My natural weight is 9st 7lb and I think for the past few years I have
been riding at around 8st 9lb. I have been able to do 8st 7lb on a few
occasions but if you're not riding at that weight I don't think you can be
competitive.
"Not having good horses to aim for in Group races and at the big meetings
can be a little disheartening when you've achieved it and it's not happening
for you and it becomes more unpleasant keeping the weight off when you haven
't got good horses to ride.
"The weight is one of the main factors as you've seen a lot of jockeys in
the past hurting both physically and mentally and I don't want to, say, in
five years, be in a situation where it was hurting me in that way."
The nosedive in Weaver's winners tally is something that remains a
mystery to a jockey whose timing and style have continued to be displayed to
equal effect since the glory days.
He said: "It was not as though I was forgotten but there is no explicable
reason why it happened at that point in my career.
"New people come along and racing is forever changing but it was a
pleasure to be associated with the professionals I have dealt with and I
would rather go out with dignity rather than taking a downward spiral."
Weaver has no immediate plans for his future but is hoping that can find
an opportunity still within racing.
He said: "I have got look up every avenue and I'm not seeing my decision
as one door closing but as others opening up. I would love to stay in racing
as I would like to think I've gained a little knowledge of it and whether it
was in the media or something else I believe I have something to offer.
"I'm only 30, I would rather change and do something now before I get too
oldto do something else and I can look forward to the next step."
Graham Cunningham assesses the career of a shooting star who ended up
schlepping round the gaffs.
LEGEND has it that a football fan reared more on the spirit of the game than
its spin-offs once walked into a hotel room strewn with champagne bottles
and assorted models to ask George Best "where did it all go wrong?"
The question inevitably comes to mind when assessing Jason Weaver's shock
decision to walk away from a job which once promised to propel him into the
millionaire bracket.
Weaver first came to this reporter's attention as a raw youngster in the
spring of 1992 when urging Lynda Ramsden's King Of Chance to get the better
of a ding-dong battle with the Frankie Dettori-ridden State Dancer in a
handicap at Doncaster's Lincoln meeting.
"His rider more than held his own in the finish and is likely to prove
excellent value for his 7lb claim this season" was the report which found
its way into Timeform's Perspective that day.
Weaver did much more than that, surging through with a swagger which
notched him 200 winners and made him the main rival to Dettori as the
Italian stormed to the jockeys' championship in 1994.
Granted, he may have lacked the natural poise of the new champ, but he
was just as strong and even more deadly when given anything approaching a
soft lead early on.
More importantly, Weaver now had the backing of a trainer with a drive as
fierce as his own in Mark Johnston, and the two combined irresistibly on
2,000 Guineas day in 1994 when Mister Baileys edged out Grand Lodge to give
Middleham its first Classic win since Dante won the Derby in 1945.
The relationship wasn't built to last - and Weaver was slated by some for
setting sail for home a long way out on Mister Baileys in the Derby - but
there were plenty of other big pay-days.
John Dunlop gave him the leg up to land a huge gamble on Lavinia Fontana
in the Haydock Park Sprint Cup, while Johnston primed Bijou D'Inde for a
heart-stopping defeat of Ashkalani in the St James's Palace Stakes.
Double Trigger's stayers' triple crown in 1995 was arguably the pinnacle,
while Hever Golf Rose and Princely Heir provided further Group 1 success,
yet the last few years have seen Weaver ona slow yet sure journey from
centre stage to a place in racing's equivalent of the cheap seats.
Seeing Weaver schlepping round the gaffs while lesser riders lorded it
elsewhere always seemed like watching Besty play in the local alehouse team.
Perhaps the confidence which propelled him upward turned to arrogance and
counted against him once things got tough.
Keeping a 10st frame at 8st 7lb certainly can't have helped, and maybe
the hunger which fired him to the top just didn't burn with the same
intensity once certain doors closed.
Maybe there were other factors at work, too, but it's sad to see a rider
who looked all set for a momentous career talking about "getting out with
some dignity."
So where did it all go wrong?
It's a tough question - and only Weaver himself knows the real answers -
but perhaps like Best it was a case of too much too young.
Either way, at just 30 the man who refused to accept second best now has
plenty of time to ponder the matter.
--
The Grate Denini.3rd Earl of Harte le Pool
Denis Lindridge
Crtl C Ctrl A etc etc.
Den
"Denis Lindridge" <denisli...@ntlworld.com> wrote in message
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Derek F
the day Frankie had his Magnificent Seven, I thought it was going to be
Jason's day and did three of his mounts.
He was a brilliant apprentice and even had a BBC documentary made about him.
At that time he was known as 'Odds on Weaver' because of the number of his
mounts that were short prices.
Suddenly last summer I started to wonder what was happening to him as he
always seemed to be riding at the smaller meetings for lesser trainers.
Us older ones can think of plenty of other good young jockeys who gradually
lost good contracts and followed the same path. There is talk of a media
career but he never seems to have a very friendly look about him.
Derek.
--
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"Denis Lindridge" <denisli...@ntlworld.com> wrote in message
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Phil
up!! but many trainers have him on there blacklist of jockeys never to use.
"Denis Lindridge" <denisli...@ntlworld.com> wrote in message
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Graham.
"Denis Lindridge" <denisli...@ntlworld.com> wrote in message
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Shook his hand a couple of times, he has a grip like a vice!
(BTW, back to 1kb :-) easy in't it?
Derek F
nowhere to turn. Only a few like Fallon are big enough to get away with it.
Mark Johntsone always seems to be a difficult trainer to please and bad one
to fall out with.
Derek.
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KLeary91
>Crtl C Ctrl A etc etc.
>Den
>"Denis Lindridge"
Thats alright Den,any more "judicious cutting and pasting" and we can expect to
see you hounded out of the NG !!
Kevin Leary
Les Corbett
> Sorry if 9kb has pissed a few off.I`m still getting the hang of Ctrl Z
> Crtl C Ctrl A etc etc.
> Den
Bloody hell! I suppose we should be thankful he has not died?
LC
Stephen Powell
fallen out THAT much, or he wouldn't have ridden for him at all, surely? His
last ride for Johnston was 4th Aug 2001, and came second, albeit only a
fillies mdn at Thirsk. And he was riding for Johnston in listed and group
races as recently as 2000.
I think there's more to Weavers' downfall than simply his falling out with
Johnston, after all he did 'OK' for the next couple of seasons after that
happened.
Derek F wrote in message ...
Derek F
Turkey for Johnston and incurred his wrath ?
He fell out with Holland once when he turned up late for a meeting in Sweden
after having had a good lunch and being tested for alcohol by stewards.
Last year Johnston was using three main riders and said somewhere that he
had a chart in his office to keep track of their successes and was going to
dish out the rides accordingly.
Derek.
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"Stephen Powell" <sm...@tla-net.demon.co.uk> wrote in message
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B J Mapson
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> Last year Johnston was using three main riders and said somewhere that he
> had a chart in his office to keep track of their successes and was going
> to dish out the rides accordingly.
I'm pleased to see that Johnston lays no blame for his losers at the
trainer's door. He's obviously spent as much time as many in the LBOs where
it's always the jockey's fault ...
Derek F
"B J Mapson" <mr.t...@NvOiSrPgAiMn.net> wrote in message
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--
Anti Spam... Please remove teeth to reply.handicapped by now for a Maiden
Handicap.
G-Man
"B J Mapson" <mr.t...@NvOiSrPgAiMn.net> wrote in message
> I'm pleased to see that Johnston lays no blame for his losers at the
> trainer's door.
He cannot do that as his horses are always trying.
Cheers,
G-Man
Stephen Powell
and above his regular riders; Darley, Fanning etc) Fallon, Kinane and
Murtagh do 'click', and Pat Eddery doesn't! Why Eddery should do OK on other
peoples horses and not on his remains to be seen .....!!
Derek F
>
> "B J Mapson" <mr.t...@NvOiSrPgAiMn.net> wrote in message
> news:tGRb8.66450$as2.11...@news6-win.server.ntlworld.com...
> > "Derek F" <lordp...@teethbtinternet.com> wrote in message
> > news:a4oo79$6cv$1...@paris.btinternet.com...
> > > Last year Johnston was using three main riders and said somewhere that
> he
> > > had a chart in his office to keep track of their successes and was
going
> > > to dish out the rides accordingly.
> >
> > I'm pleased to see that Johnston lays no blame for his losers at the
> > trainer's door. He's obviously spent as much time as many in the LBOs
> where
> > it's always the jockey's fault ...
> >
> >
> Which one will manage to get Benny The Vice home. It must be nicely
> Anti Spam... Please remove teeth to reply.
> Derek.
And Benny runs today over a new distance and blinkered for the first time.
Still a Bismarck?