I think Digger might now drop out... we'll see.

I think JV was always over-rated, Prado was always better in my mind, and now that Garrett Gomez is on the scene the competition for the good horses is even harder, he has always had Pletchers spoon-fed mounts to bolster his stats, but day to day Prado and Gomez are better in my opinion of course.

Question: how does one just decide - seemingly at random - to send a horse to a grueling, 12f test? I'm not talking about Digger here, but C P West and a couple of others. I would suspect it's much more advisable to point a horse towards a race like this weeks in advance.

I agree 100%

I think they had been considering sending CP West to the Belmont after how he ran in the Preakness.

More or less were just waiting to see if any of the Top 3 would drop out



Had a cP west dream last night for some reason?? Maybe a sign?

I don't what was going on behind the scenes really, but Rags is technically Gomez's mount. Johnny's never been on her, if I remember correctly.

If Pletcher only has one horse in a race on one of JV's home tracks, is there agreement for JV to always have first call? I realize Gomez made a firm commitment to Hard Spun, but you would think Pletcher would have let Garrett know that he was strongly considering her before he committed to Spun.

This wasn't a random decision nor was Rags. It is all politics. If you say you are pointing to the race and then don't wind up running for whatever reason everyone is going to assume you had a setback. If you wait to make an announcement then you can have a minor setback and skip the race without it raising any red flags.

Really?? Through June 4th

Mounts: 453 W- 103 P-71 S-58

Earnings- 4th place $6,247,817

I guess your right....that's some bad riding.:confused:

Think of it this way, Tiger Woods has sucked lately too.

Perhaps you should watch racing on a day to day basis before posting a bunch of numbers. Everybody paying attention knows the deal.

me too, I don't care what the numbers say, he is not quite the same now for whatever reason.

Well, #1 Sir.....I have a job, but I do watch replays from Belmont on most nights. #2. I don't have a job in the summer so I'm at Saratoga where I've seen him do nothing but win...and not just on Pletcher's horses.

It's funny how when many people on here want people to back up their points with facts and then they do......well then suddenly the facts Lie?
Really? Wow? He did all of that in 6 months, but he sucks lately?
I suppose you say the same about any jockey whose had a rough couple of weeks?

So let me get this straight, you don't follow the game because you have a job, therefore it's OK to argue my points without a true understanding of the situation?

When did I talk about Saratoga? I am talking about his riding this year....and particularly recently.

The " facts " are that people who are paying careful attention to the game, and particularly Johnny's riding, are in agreement that it has been sub-par ( especially for him ). One of the posters agreeing with me recently hit two five figure Pick-6s. I can't speak for ArlJim, who also agreed that Johnny has not been riding well, but I'm having a pretty good year at the windows. I believe I recently saw a post of yours claiming you were doing poorly in 2007. Perhaps you might want to take into account who stands on more solid ground in this discussion.

What, out of curiosity is his ROI this year? How about his ROI at Belmont?

yeah...he has only won 9 of his last 16 starts. I wish I sucked that bad.

This is a huge opportunity for the sport to market itself.

BATTLE OF THE SEXES
TOP MALE VS TOP FEMALE HORSE

racing is lame in terms of using mass media. They will only get about 10-15% of potential from this situation. The worst thing is that these guys think thier problems are from lack of slots.

What have you done for me lately, not so good. Yup, he is a good one overall.

Oh, Come on BTW, can you start making some sense. You are going to play the "FPSOXFAN is a lowly degenerate gambler because he hasn't hit a Pick-6
Card"????? I thought you were better than that. Andy, you are better than that. I'm just trying to stick up for a guy, whose done nothing but win on horses. He's had some tough rides, but c'mon, let the facts stick for themselves and let's stay away from this Hierarchy of Posters argument you are trying to make. It's quite juvenile.

Even though I don't know a freaking thing about racing I would take Johnny V. over any of the top 5 jockeys any day.

damn...LOL...guy loses two tournaments in a row and he is chopped liver this year.:D

Only if you bet on him:D

This is what I was curious about, too, half way through this discussion!

--Dunbar

Twisting what is being said to make yourself look like a victim doesn't work with me....or anybody paying attention. Insulting yourself in some feeble attempt to make it appear as though I implied or said those things is pathetic.

Once again, everybody paying careful attention to the racing in NY knows John Velasquez has not been riding as well as he is capable of. You have admitted to not following the game closely. Others are following it more closely than you. You dove into this argument and are now looking for unwarranted sympathy because the waters are too deep.

No thanks. Have a good one.

and as I am sure my opinion is of great value here....I don't think JV has been riding well of late either...although he did stick it to me with Logic Way about a week and half ago...

What ever you say, MY LORD........But it is you....that has gotten himself in too deep.

By the way Johnny V.......Win % = 23%

Not too SHABBY. But then again, I'm just a lowly servent on the DT hierarchy. Get a clue.

Nobody is saying that JV is not a good jock...however even good jocks go thru times when they are not riding as well as they normally do...

Don't make me pull out the "BE NICE" on you two. But atleast you aren't calling each other NASTY names.

Here's an idea....make one post that isn't idiotic.

GPK...I read your post and Andy's with great interest all of the time. I've been better at being careful about saying things that are going to get me blasted, but can't we all complain about a jock who's gone through a rough streak. I've seen people blast Desormeaux on here over and over, and he can certainly be a headcase, but he's turned in some super rides. The problem is I won't defend him because unless you hit a pick-6, write for a magazine, wear a dunce cap, or whatever all you can do is read on here. I was just stating facts. That's all!!

I'm thinking some pretty nasty thoughts, however.

I love you too!

I guess he's really moody today. Oh well.

Hey fpsox,
Can a very good baseball player go into a slump where he is not hitting the ball as well as his historical average suggests he can???

I promise you, I am far from being in any position whatsoever to judge other peoples opinions on horse racing...and even if I was, it's not my style. I think there are alot of people on here that have many things we can learn from and God knows I need to learn tons more about this game.

This isn't directed at you whatsoever, but I think alot of us tend to forget...this is just the internet. As many wonderful friends that I have made on this board, Im just not the kind of person that is gonna get upset about what someone may think or say about me (unless it is being labled a racist:D ).

Well...I take that back...my world revolves around what Bethani thinks about me:rolleyes:

0000000000

Oh God.


This is too fun.


Mr.SoxDryer......I believe Mr. Serling could shred you posthumously if necessary.







Give it up sir.

I wouldn't worry all that much about what anyone writes in reply to your thoughts. It ain't as if it's the Battle of Thermoplyae. I've had four straigt winning days, so I can say that. As an aside, I watch all the Belmont races and I've seen John V in better form. He's winning on the best horse but that's about it. Last year, he was making incredible mid-race decisions on rides that made a huge difference. Maybe he's hurting. As an aside #2, I feel pretty good about game 2 of the Marlins-Braves doubleheader going Over 9 runs. Just thought I'd toss in a bonus there.

Certainly......But I'm talking about Johnny V's stats and earnings for the year.

Now you and your son Scav can go pro together....

Oh goodness...Now I've got you on my case. Where's the rope?
Andy is one of the best..no question and I'm looking forward to seeing him and many others at the Spa. This is just a tiny pi**ing match which I'm going to give up now. I've said my piece. I will agree to disagree. Thanks for the vote of confidence though Morty. It comes at a real good time.

Is it true he has his own bobblehead doll out?

When Scav and I do get together, some damage is going to occur.