the rail was open that day , isn't the rail the shortest way home ?, your inside , your saving ground your not going wide

and it's pretty remarkable to see people on here bash the top trainer in the country for the last 10 yrs as though he is lucky to win claiming races

When Smith made his decision the inside wasn't open yet.

his decision was made before the race started , he knew he had to be wide , it was the best part of the track to be that day (and most days ) , he went wide and won , ramon tucked inside and lost

take the same 2 horses and give them the different rides and you have a different winner

Marty, she is 14 for 14 and do you know how many times she has came up the rail to win. ZERO!. It had nothing to do with the track.

Watch and see.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zi0YaVefoeE

Clearly this is missed by Marty. Trying to bring that beast through the inside's like parking your 18 wheeler in the Compact Car space.

NT

Now granted I don't watch the majority of races, or even 25% of them at Golden Gate...but it does seem to me that it's a track for closers on the outside.

I kinda agree with Gales. Ramon Dominguez has toyed with a crappy Jockey colonies in AQU and has loaded up his share of MCL, Claimers and ALW. In order to be in the elite class, he needs to develop a cold-blooded menatlity on those big days of racing. As of now he hasnt shown it.

Yes he won the Saratoga title last year but 4 jockeys had more stakes wins than he did that meet.

Yes he won all NYRA jockey titles but many of the big jocks were not around as they spend thier time going to Keeneland, Gulfstream, Churchill riding there regularly and getting mounts on graded stakes races. Also, none of those get or choose to ride the quantity of mounts that Ramon gets.

This is the first sign you may need help.

NT

Can we please debate the points and refrain from childish name calling?

Consider the source, no, we cannot have a debate of any type.

NT

Are you talking about Russel Baze or Ramon Dominguez????

Ramon Dominguez has toyed with a crappy Jockey colonies in AQU and has loaded up his share of MCL, Claimers and ALW. In order to be in the elite class, he needs to develop a cold-blooded menatlity on those big days of racing. As of now he hasnt shown it.

Yes he won the Saratoga title last year but 4 jockeys had more stakes wins than he did that meet.

Yes he won all NYRA jockey titles but many of the big jocks were not around as they spend thier time going to Keeneland, Gulfstream, Churchill riding there regularly and getting mounts on graded stakes races. Also, none of those get or choose to ride the quantity of mounts that Ramon gets.


Now Can We Debate?

dominguez won over 300 races at nyra tracks last year. the only other riders to do that ever are cordero, mike smith, eibar coa and steve cauthen. pretty good company. he won the spring/summer belmont meet and saratoga. thats when the top jocks are in ny. day in day out hes the most consistent rider in ny in years. hes patient and poised more than any jockey around.

the stakes will come. its not for lack of ability. hes hurt because he really doesnt have a main stable like velazquez/pletcher, gomez/baffert. without a major stable behind him he won 5 grade 1's last year. if hes not the best rider in the us, hes top 3 easily.

You right, I should have specified that the jockey in question did it on argueably what is the best/deepest (jockey colony wise) circuit 8 months out of the year. Hopefully that would have answered your question.

According to what was said, Ramon D isn't that great because no T/C wins.
Garret Gomez,Julian Leparoux the two finalist as top jockey also has 0 wins in the T/C. So based on talk, none of the 3 holds a candle to the great Calvin Borel or the great Kent D. The point being it takes alot of racing luck to win these big races, not just being on good horses.

Deepest??? Best??? I am looking at AQU Jockey standings right now and he is just schooling the likes of David Cohen, Angel Serpa (Who?), Napravnik and Charles Lopez (Who?) Doesnt Aqueduct run 6 months out of the year? Again another example of a good jockey crushing a poor-mediocre group of jockeys,

You also forget that your top tier jockeys in NYRA are spent shuffling around Keeneland, Gulfstream, Churchill. And again they dont ride near as enough mounts as Dominguez to even contend jockey titles. What they do beat him in is definetely in Graded stakes win.

Also, you seem to empasize wins in Claiming, ALW as more important than anything else.

I am not going to argue that Dominguez is a good jockey or not but as far as being elite --Not yet my friend.

Jerry Bailey, Laffit Pincay, Angel Cordero, Chris McCarron, Pat Day, Gary Stevens, Garret Gomez, etc. are some of the luckiest jockeys ever.

How can you win over 300 races on the NY circuit and not be elite? Because he didn't win a BC race? The guy has been on a major circuit for one year full time! How many mounts do you think he was going to accumulate?

I'd reserve judgment on whether Dominguez is "not elite" until he gets quite a few more legitimate mounts in big races.

NT

As you know, big races extend beyond BC/TC races and still he is a relative no-show. Winning over 300 races and winning at 25% clip doesnt inherit you big mounts. If that was the case then Russel Baze, and Clinton Potts would be first call for any elite trainer of thier choice. Elite riders not only win one or two Grade ones but repeat and repeat thier wins in Grade Ones.