In the past I have paid little heed to jockeys believing that other factors are more relevant and jockeys' abilities would 'even out'. I am having a quantum shift in opinion now.
Last saturday in Caulfield R8 I was totally amused (I'll call it 'amused' now) to watch D Stackhouse on Mr Make Believe get in a street brawl up the front with Jungle Ruler a $60.00 shot that wasn't gonna finish in the first half of the field. Naturally MMB capitulated in the last 150m gallantly trying to hang on. Just ONE example of multitudes.
Too many times I have been beaten by jockey stupity inexperience, it hurts.
Riding a horse is a jockey's job - is he interested in furthering himself by being the best he can, or does he just turn up, give it go and whatever...?
Is it a job or a profession to him? Pittsburg Phil said "A good jockey, a good horse, a good bet.."
As an analogy, in Formula 1 racing Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber both drive for Red Bull-Renault. The cars, having much the same architecture, technicians and engineers would be very close to equal, but Vettel is a far superior driver than Webber and, hence, on top of the driver standings. Clearly the person who steers is as important as the vehicle.
I totally believe that I have way underestimated the 'jockey factor' in the past and will be more attentive to who's on what horse in the future. The task is to evaluate jockey importance.

What be your thoughts?