Te Akau Tuesday Update

David writes:

There has been plenty of comment about one of Matt Cameron's rides at Ellerslie on Saturday and as usual, all from "experts" that have never ridden a race.

I have seen the Ellerslie race many times and have this to say:

Matt went inside two horses after straightening up when he should have gone outside them.  It was a split second decision and, in hindsight, he chose the wrong option.  If he had got the gap on the inside, it would have been regarded as a good ride but the gap didn't comne and he was forced to go back in to the fence which ws unfortunate.

My stable jockeys over the years have been Jim Collett, Opie Bosson, Michael Walker, James McDonald and Matt Cameron - they have all won the premiership as our stable rider and they all rode the occasional bad race that in hindsight looked stupid - just like Matt did at Ellerslie.

Even premiership winning jockeys can make a mistake and it is very easy for grandstand critics to make great decisions from where they sit - not carrying 54kgs.

Give Matt a break - he is a champion bloke and our champion jockey for the last two seasons!