So you're saying you wouldn't bet Steppenwolfer off that race? It looked to me like he was real game getting up for 2nd when he did get clear.

When is the last time he actually won a race?

I think it's exactly the kind of situation people get themselves in trouble with. First of all, what kind of price will he be next time? What are the chances it's is as weak a field? Hell, Sabre Baby, the ultimate perfect trip suck-up, won the race.

To me, Steppenwolfer is the classic trap/bad trip people fall for. They see a horse that should have won, but fail to realize his winning would have been with the benefit of a perfect trip against a questionable field, and somehow over elevate his performance.

What Gomez usually tries to do is save ground around the turn and then swing out at the top of the lane. In the Steppenwolfer race, he really couldn't swing out because he had a horse outside of him. So I don't know if it was his fault or not. If a jock rides enough races on come-from-behinders, he is going to get in trouble sometimes no matter how good he is. Even though we all realize this, we still expect a jock to get through and win if he's on the best horse. But realistically, they are going to find trouble once in a while and get beat. I guess the bottom line is that the good jocks get in trouble and blow the race much less often than the bad ones.

Oh man! I watched that race because I think Dahoss had mentioned that horse in the selection area. As I recall he was on the rail and although I didn't re-watch the race I remember thinking "oh god what a brutal ride".
Didn't realize it was Gomez.

I just watched the Steppenwolfer replay again ( I'm thinking of using it for the " Hidden Horse " later today ) and actually think Gomez did in fact make two specific blunders. He could have angled out late in the turn, thus losing very little ground, and forced himself closer to the horse outside of him but giving the horse a chance to squeeze through and he further exacerbated this error by over commiting to the spot once in the stretch. Once he realized his error it was too late and the winner had gotten away. Since Steppenwolfer easily moved forward once given clear space, and didn't chicken out, he clearly cost the horse a victory.

It was poor judgement. He tried to do what he thought was right but it was a blunder. Riding often involves a lot of split second decisions and the best riders make the most correct choices in these circumstances. Gomez probably usually does....but this time he didn't.

Next.

Steppenwolfer was lusting for the big W and looked like the best in that race.

I didn't think that Sabre Baby ran bad at all against English Channel, however, at first glance, it appears that in his last race he basically sucks up inside and doesn't really run in the stretch, while Rock Lobster has a wide trip and runs better in the lane. A closer look, however, reveals that SB was stuck behind horses the length of the stretch in the GP race.

It was then a little bit interesting that Rock Lobster (and, to a certain extent, Steppenwolfer) gets a perfect drafting trip while SB is outside and breaking wind the entire race. Rock Lobster also seemed to lack a bit of room in the stretch but didn't do much running when he finally got clear.

What's a bit hard to take on the turf (at Belmont) these days is that all the jocks are riding as if they were at Saratoga or Aqueduct. They're all trying to save ground inside and hoping to find room when they enter the stretch. Channing Hill is particular guilty of this and has blown at least 2 rides ---in one of which, he was lucky to not get killed.

WTF, this is Belmont, and especially on the wider turf, having a clear, wide run in the lane is the way to go.

TFM,

Great post.. So right. Just again now in the BEL 6th.. C. Hill on Ubillio's #2 and Edgar on Matz' #9 (to a lesser extent).. Goes around covered up the entire way and never get a chance to really make a bid. Odd way to attack a race.