I`m a bit long in the tooth and tend to view the past thro` rose tinted specs...."everything was much better in my day!!" But when it comes to jockeys (with the exception of Jamie Spencer!!) I do believe our current crop of jocks are much superior, in general, to those of yester-year. We might not have a Piggott or a Cauthen but I very rarely reduce my stakes or not bet because of the jockey (except for Jamie Spencer!!).
There are so many really good young jocks coming through and particularly women. Hollie Doyle and Nicola Currie are as good as most of the male jocks. The current lot do seem more polished, professional, and fitter than those of times gone by. Admittedly, there are exceptions, but I do think our jocks are fine and deserve praising....even DO might agree, if I exclude Ryan Moore!!