It isn't the ride I would have suggested, as I suppose if you are trying to get a horse to do something he basically can't, you should accentuate his strengths as much as possible. Would he have had a better chance if he had been sent to the lead? Maybe....but probably not. The make-up of the race would have changed dramatically and horses like Curlin and Rags to Riches, who seem perfectly comfortable sitting a bit off a contentious pace, may well have had trips more to their liking than sitting right on a dawdling pace. People act as though the pace scenerio affected only one horse in this race, Hard Spun, when in fact it theoretically changed the entire make-up of the race. But, being that the results were easily expectable ( is that a word? ), ultimately I feel it was an honestly run race. Hard Spun is both distance challenged ( something evident in the previous triple crown races ) and not that good ( something evidenced his entire career ).
Personally I don't think any of Hard Spun's races have been affected by his rider ( though I guess the Southwest was a mediocre passive ride but he was both victimized by post and probably mediocre instructions due to an irrational evaluation of the horse's actual talent ). He's finished about where he should have every time he's run. Do I think it's an odd choice to switch to a guy like Gomez if you want to dominate a race on the front end? No....he had no trouble making the lead with Dream Rush. He's a rider, he can ride a horse in many ways, and I don't believe the connections that he ignored their instructions, just as I don't believe the lunacy of people that think there were other games being played in the race. These guys simply aint that smart.
What everyone, his connections and people evaluating the race, needs to really do is get a more realistic opinion of Hard Spun.
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