Jockey Steven Arnold dominated in 2010 with So You Think

You’d be excused for thinking Steven Arnold may have followed So You Think overseas this year, the top jockey has been conspicuously absent from the winners circle, especially during the spring carnival.

Sure he’s been picking up the odd winner here and there but it’s on the big stage that he usually shines, not in 2011 though.

It was always going to be tough to replicate the wonders of last year when he and So You Think dominated just about everything they touched but he surely wasn’t expecting to fall back to earth quite so hard.

To his credit he’s not bitter or angry with his situation, he knows it’s all part of racing and he knows it can turn around at any stage.

“Obviously, it would have been nice to have him (So You Think) for another year. It just gives you those good rides in weight-for-age races,” Arnold said.

“You can’t panic about certain stages and think you are going no good or get too down.

“You have to look at the big picture and try to have yourself ready when you get a good horse or a good ride.

“I had an ordinary spring, but when you get to my age (37) you’ve had a few springs and you’re going to have a few ordinary ones unless you are Craig Williams and riding at the peak of his career.

“There wasn’t a lot coming through, but if you can ride a few winners it keeps you around the mark.”

He took a much needed break at the back end of November, just enough time to get away from it all and recharge the batteries.

China was his destination but he couldn’t stay as long as he may have liked, his weight always an issue in the back of his mind.

Arnold rode yesterday at 57.5kg and it will take some time for him to reach his bottom weight of 55.5kg.

“It puts you in with a chance in the set weight races if you can get on a nice three-year-old,” he said.

In what may signal a change in fortunes Arnold managed to score a win aboard Giresun to give himself a boost heading into the new year.