Richie,

You have gotta be joking. When Steve Cauthen first started riding in the UK the one thing against him was that he wasn't strong enough in a finish. For months he found it hard to get an outside ride. He then changed his style to a more British one and became champion.

And most British observers think Hawaiian Sun (W. Shoemaker) would have won the Epsom Derby if his rider had been able to drive him home at the finish.

There are three reasons why your statement about the relative strengths of jockeys is incorrect. Firstly most tracks in the UK have uphill finishes. It's obviously a lot harder to get a horse to run uphill rather than on the flat.

Secondly in the spring and fall (and the summer come to that) Britain can get a lot of rain and many races are run on soft or heavy turf. Again riding a horse uphill on soft turf takes more strength than pinging along on flat dirt.

Thirdly a mile and a half is not an extreme distance in Europe. Most cards have at least one race at that distance or farther. Races of 1 3/4m and 2m are common. Very often you will see a jockey pushing and shoving for at least 3 or 4f. In the US most races are less than a mile.

You also shouldn't judge all European jockeys by Dettori. He would not be considered one of the strongest.

Cheers,

George