'We could lose him to England because all the big jobs are filled here' - What makes Dan King so good? It was a terrific week for young jockey Dan King in Galway as the 21-year-old completed the major feat of riding a double in the Galway Plate and Galway Hurdle. He became the first jockey to achieve this since 1984. His skills in the saddle have been highlighted multiple times by trainers questioning why he hasn’t yet landed a big job. Ex-jockey and race analyst Paddy Flood also highlighted his talents many months ago and on the Irish Angle this week the team discussed what makes him so good. The Whole Package Paddy Flood believes King may be snapped up by an English trainer: “I have been doing a newsletter for Irishracing.com, and over the last year I have probably written about Dan six times because he just keeps popping up. “He has been doing it on ordinary days that people might only see on the racing channels, but now he has done it on RTÉ, on a big channel, and the public get to see him. “I actually wrote a newsletter about him two weeks ago. What I said was that he is so good that we could lose him to England because all the big jobs are filled here, and he deserves a big job. He would walk into a major role anywhere. “If I were a trainer with a lot of horses, I would be earmarking him because he is getting better and better.” A sympathetic and kind rider Flood continued to speak about why he is so gifted in the saddle: “He is a beautiful, kind rider, with great balance for a tall lad and the kindest hands. “Horses think they are at home doing a piece of work when they are racing with him. He gets every inch out of a horse. “He has the whole package. He speaks very well, he is down to earth, and he is definitely going places. “And Tony Martin - what can you say about him in the Galway Hurdle? He may not have the calibre of horses he had back in the day, but he can still produce one when he needs to. Martin’s fine attention to detail Emma Nagle commented on Martin’s diligent approach with his horses: “I actually loved the interview afterwards as well. I think Tony was questioned by the stewards. He ran down to the start because Putapoundinthejar was getting a bit upset in the parade ring. “His cross noseband was a bit too tight and Tony ran down and took it off at the start. It shows the attention to detail you can get when you have a horse with one of those smaller yards. Tony keeps doing it on the big days. “We had Dan riding the Plate winner for Willie Mullins as well. That might be a partnership that develops. “I am not sure whether Dan is going into it in a couple of days, but it was Tony himself who was giving him huge praise, saying that he should be in one of these big yards.” Johnny Ward added: “I spoke to Tony Martin when Dan had a winner at Downpatrick, and he was basically gushing about him. Tony has always been a believer in the quieter jockeys - the Carberrys, Davy Russell, Barry Geraghty. “Tony liked riders such as Ruby Walsh, jockeys who would hold a horse up. “Dan comes from a family of very good people. You meet his father at the races, you meet his brother, and you meet his other brother, Conor. They are just good people. “I think Dan’s father has strong Galway connections as well, so this would have meant even more to them.” Watch the Irish Angle in full
