Gomez on Wait A While
 

Did he turn it in halfway down the backstretch or was it me?? Unless she comes away from the race injured (hope not), that was a pathetic attempt to hit the board by GG.IMO.. Does anyone think the poly had everything to do with it or was she just not herself?? This isnt sour grapes either as I didnt play today, I just got home to watch the replay and I was shocked..

She's a top class horse. There was nothing to gain for her connections to whip her through the stretch to maybe get up for third. He made the right move in gearing down on her even if some gamblers are unhappy.

Thats the first thing I thought of, the angry betting public..How much money was in her WPS pool??

Well I bet on Mauralakana and I was none to happy with the ride from Julien.
Never did I dream that he was going to the lead and set the pace. He brings everything there from off the pace, and I thought that would be his move in this race. When I saw him go to the front, and Wait A While take back, I thought, what the heck is going on here.

Blame the jockey.

she would not have defeated my typhoon anyway.... this is a very serious filly....

I think this whole situation with Julian was one of those "I'm up here, no reason to hammerlock her"

She broke real sharp, kinda like the way that Showing Up broke, I expect both of them to run huge on Derby Day

If she is running in a wagering event, it should be the responsibility of the jockey to get the maximum effort out of her. In a perfect world, if the horse wasn't injured or compromised physically, Gomez should get a suspension.

(and I didn't wager on the race)

In Australia it is a serious offence for the jockey not to ride the horse out with suspensions of 6 weeks to 2 years, as far as the stewards are concerned the horse is the property of the gambling public once it is entered in a race

Noone said she would have. She didnt take to the poly, oh well.. She really loves a stiff turf, its safe to assume without making a derriere of urself.. But there was an awful alot of show money wagered..Bad stretch ride. There aretn enough naked playboy bunnies in the world to convince me otherwise.

I disagree. It is the responsibility of the jockey to do what is right for the owners of the multi-million dollar piece of horse flesh he is riding. Bettors know that the risk of betting a top horse to show is that if it isn't in contention to win it will not be pushed hard through the line. If they don't then they are very naive as to the realities of the business of this sport. We know fully well that horses are cranked up for specific races and factor that into capping. Do you suggest we suspend any trainer for entering a horse that isn't fully cranked up because it is a wagering event?

YES!! It would certainly make handicapping an easier proposition, and take the guesswork/insider information out of "trainer intent":) Seriously, I don't mind losing if my horse is not as good as some others, or has a bad day, for whatever reason... but I do have a problem with a horse that gets a "no chance/no effort" trip. Unfortunately, I see that far too often, and my paranoia leads me to think that some insiders were privy to information that I was not.

See racing in Australia is different. In America we don't give a **** about the gambler. Oh that precious racehorse. Please don't whip him and try to get into the money...he could spontaneously combust!!

It's ridiculous and the connections should be suspended and fined. If I cared about the breeding aspect of the game i'd go to the nearest farm and watch the action. What these people are getting away with is fraud. Plain and simple.

Disclaimer: I did not bet the race but saw the replay.

All these restrictions might improve wagering a little bit but I doubt they would have more than a minimal effect on handle. I highly doubt anyone is quitting wagering because Gomez didn't abuse Wait a While a couple more times. The only effect it would have is to discourage trainers from entering their horses in anything but the biggest races. And that is the exact thing that this sport should be trying to avoid.

Like 90+% of the races out there are non-stakes races with the animals being treated exactly like you want. Why bet the stakes races if that is the way you want it to be? There needs to be somewhere that these owners can run their valuable horses without them being treated like they are nothing more than a vehicle to gamble on or else there is no reason for them to keep them on the track and out of the breeding shed.

There is somewhere they can run these valuable horses without using them too harshly. It's called the morning workout. It's fraudulent to enter them in a stakes race and not attempt to win the race or even place. Those pussies cost alot of people money yesterday.

Oh great, just what I wanted, more top horses working and less racing. The Baffert approach.

Good point. :rolleyes: