European jockeys have had a difficult start in Australia when booked for big rides in both Melbourne and Sydney across the weekend.
Jamie Spencer and Frankie Dettori were both in Sydney for the Golden Eagle meeting while William Buick travelled to Melbourne for Derby Day.
All experienced limited success. Buick was suspended for his ride aboard Kissonallforcheeks in the Group 1 Empire Rose and didn’t finish closer than fourth from eight rides.
Dettori and Spencer also went home without a winner on the same day at Rosehill.
Spencer’s biggest ride came in the Golden Eagle aboard the Ciaron Maher and David Eustace import Light Infantry.
A share of Light Infantry was purchased by Australian connections, who raced the UK galloper in Saturday’s $10 million Golden Eagle at Rosehill.
Leading owner John O’Neill noted Spencer was a big part of Australian connections purchasing the four-year-old having ridden him at starts overseas.
It was then part of the agreement that Spencer would ride the horse in the Golden Eagle. But when discussing UK jockeys coming to Australia for the Spring riches, O’Neill suggested it wasn’t a worthy exercise.
“It’s been a disaster,” O’Neill told SEN Track and SEN's Whateley when discussing European jockeys in Australia.
“And I think it goes back the other way too.
“We sent Mark Zahra over to ride Verry Elleegant in a race (Qatar Prix de Royallieu over 2800m). He didn’t get there until a day or so before, people are dealing with jet lag, people don’t understand the tracks, people don’t understand the pace, I’m not potting Mark’s ride in that race but at the end of the day I just don’t think it works.”
After drawing perfectly in barrier six, many were surprised when Light Infantry found itself on the fence in 13th position of the 20-horse field during the run on Saturday.
The international galloper let down well in the straight to run sixth after jumping as the equal ($5) favourite but never got close to the winner I Wish I Win.
Catch an 'eagle eye' view of the XXXX Golden Eagle!
— Racing NSW (@racing_nsw) October 29, 2022
Watch all the drama unfold from above as @moodyracingpgm's new star I Wish I Win takes out the $10m feature for four-year-olds at Rosehill Gardens. @tabcomau pic.twitter.com/8zj7k7Z1fB
“Looking at Jamie Spencer, who is a world class jockey, there’s no doubt about that. But we race very differently here than what we do overseas,” O’Neill continued.
“Clearly there’s a horse and a half gap between most of the horses (over there), in Australia we ride very tight.
“Jamie rode our horse in the Golden Eagle and we thought we’d be out running fourth, maybe sixth. If you have a look at the overhead he didn’t push up at all, a bit of pressure from the outside, (Spencer) dropped his hands and we found ourselves 12th or 13th the fence with absolutely no hope whatsoever.”
Meanwhile, SEN Track’s Gareth Hall shared a similar sentiment.
“I put the analogy for cricketers, like the English cricket team coming out for the Ashes,” he began.
“If Joe Root turned up on the Thursday before the first Test on Saturday and he was facing Mitch Starc and Josh Hazlewood at the Gabba, he would struggle because he would need to get used to the Australian conditions.
“I think the English jockeys – and they probably can’t because they have too many commitments overseas – but they don’t give themselves the best opportunity.
“They arrive a couple of days before, then they have to try to work out the different ways the Australian jockeys ride, it’s just a completely different ball game.
“It hasn’t worked this Spring.”
Spencer's ride was also criticised in the Cox Plate earlier in October when failing to give Gold Trip the best chance.
Buick is the only one of the travelling trio who has a ride in the Melbourne Cup, partnering import Without A Fight ($11).