yes, I still make bad .gifs
 

GoGo Gomez 1st turn! Fort Harrod into solid fractions for 1 5/8ths
24.33 47.77, 1:11.47, 1:37.14, 2:04.40, 2:44.02

saving some bandwidth
click link to see awful .gif of Bold Early tactics from Gomez --> http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/3076/gogo.gif

Not really sure if Rocket Legs was a play at 5/2. Rockets Legs current form is not that great either. I really dont blame gomez sending him to the front but unfortunately he did go too fast. Next time he could throttle him down a bit and could probably be a nice play at better odds.

I'm guessing you are thinking of gales.

I didn't see anything wrong with Prado's ride yesterday, the point is Passenger had the entire stretch to get by Mr. Sidney but couldn't, 9 times out of 10 if a horse is good enough they will go by.

I'm actually digging this one.

I loved the ride to the point where he was on even terms with MS. I just thought it was a very weak effort from there, and I'd like to see what a stronger finisher like Gomez or Leparoux would have accomplished in the same situation. Prado looked completely inept once he went to the whip IMO.

Thanks for the objective opinions though because my $$ was definitely on Passager and I've also had back luck with Prado lately, so I'm probably just the sour grape guy here.

I've been critical of Prado for well over a year, so I'm not hesitant in pointing out a poor ride on his part. In this case, however, except for a split second, when he slightly checked as MS came out under lefty whip, he rode hard to the wire. Desormeaux quickly straightened MS out (in a single stride) and Prado steadily whipped Passager to the wire. He was hit 6 times or so. What else is he supposed to do? You could argue that Desormeaux is a better finisher but why not just accept that the setup, the patient ride by Kent, and the fact that Passager is just not that good cost him the race?

I find it interesting that this ride is being criticized as much as it is and that the ride by Gomez on Dunkirk and Ventura (not the exact same dynamics but certainly similar enough) aren't. Those were BLOWN rides (tactically).

Sorry for the mixup with Gales.

I understand the point you are making, there are rider's that look busy down the stretch and the appearance is they may get more run out of horses. Gomez is a strong finisher who is often busy, the polar opposite is Dominguez, he will hand ride horses to the wire and they will finish strong. I guess what I am saying is you don't always have to look busy to have a horse finish, it is an interesting point of discussion you bring up.

It's weird because it looks like a move turning for home and it is actually very early in the race.