Ron The Greek -- a real campaigner
 

Ron The Greek is a very cool and respectable horse. What is overlooked in this past weekend is what a highly respectable campaign Bill Mott has put him thorugh:

(Gulfstream) He won the Sunshine Million Classic by 11+ lengths in a race where Macho Macho Man never fired and was eased.

(Santa Anita) The only serious Eastern or Midwest horse to ship out and face Game On Dude at home this year ... he was obliterated by Game On Dude in the Big Cap ... but still, he went out there, faced Game On Dude at home, and gave weight breaks that are worth open lengths on Ragozin Sheets away to the rest of the California older horses. That's very respectable campaigning.

(Charles Town) He was 3rd to Game on Dude and the Californian Clubhouse Ride ... but he was best in this race. There was no pace pressure and he ran fantastic to close well.

(Churchill Downs) The South, The West, the Mid-Atlantic, and now the Mid-West ... he caught a loose lead Fort Larned. Was a bad, but no chance 3rd.

(Saratoga) I picked him to win the Whitney in my company write-up. The pace battle between Cross Traffic, Fort Larned, and Mucho Macho Man never materialized....but he still ran 4th beaten 4.25 lengths.

(Saratoga) Like any good campaign ... Saratoga is so nice, do it twice. He runs in the Woodward ... small field, sloppy track, no pace pressure at all up front ... it's a recipe for a dull race and that was what he turned in.

(Belmont) Jockey Club Gold Cup ... It's easy to be a fan of Ron The Greek but I had grown so sick of his subtle excuses all year ... that I didn't even consider him at 20/1, while breaking from a live rail, with a rail-riding ground saving lover of a jockey aboard. He beat what was probably the most accomplished field all year, and he did it by almost 7 lengths.

Feel like you. Chased him in his last few races. Didn't want to continue to chase. Passed the race, though I thought Palace Malice would probably be best. Not a play for me at that price.

Nice to see his owners get rewarded for being so sporting.

There just comes a point where you feel like your chasing a horse thats never going to run that "A" race again.

The only way I could have ended up on him was if I thought the rest of the field was not very good, which I was close to but I felt like Cross Traffic would get the rail and win.

I thought both 3yo's were way too slow to win. Flat Out felt like the other horse to me much more so than Ron the Greek. 20/1 though can make up a few mental lengths in ones handicapping mind I suppose.

he was much closer to the pace than in any of his prior races this year save the Sunshine Millions. Perhaps that was the key?

It seems that Flat Out's best races this year have also been when he was closer to the pace that usual.

Paul

If Bill Mott puts them in a race I've learned to trust his judgement of his horses and their ability... Ron The Greek is just one of those that you never know what he is bringing that day... I just think the field he faced Jockey Club Gold Cup was not that good and he did get some added benefits that day that aided in his easy win.. he will go to the BC and take some action but will be up against GoD and MMM whom I think are the real deals....

It probably is a losing formula, but I'm always willing to take a shot with a horse who can throw up the occasional big race that goes off 15/1 or higher.

Agree Paul. Thought Lezcano staying in contact was a big positive. And being on best part of track didn't hurt.

While trusting in Mott's judgement might be reliable in most circumstances, in this case his preference was to run Ron the Greek in the Kelso. The owners pushed to run.

Props to his owners!

Gameness gets rewarded for a change.

The Kelso would have been a lousy spot for Ron The Greek as it played out. Slow pace and loose lead Graydar. I doubt he wins that given the way it developed

palace really surprised me thought he liked this surface
and orb whoa that freak may have one race peaked
easy excuse but cross traffics gate problems totally changed the race

I have just always thought of Ron being better at 10f than 9f.
I don't think it does a lot of the other handicap horses any favors, while he relishes the extra ground.

Given what happened to Fort Larned earlier this year, it's worth pointing out that saying he was on a loose lead also means, in this particular instance, he had a jockey up at the time.