It seems that in California turf racing, when one of the best horses has an easy lead and has won wire-to-wire before = he can be very tough to beat.
I don't know if the turf is a little more firm out there , or if it's the track configuration or something else like training style and medication.
I don't know that any jockey could have won the race with BH, but debatable for second. Hell, it is debatable for the win as well, I just wouldn't argue "for".
At least the horse was running at the end and can continue to carry form forward. It looked like the top three kind of synched-up strides in the last 4 strides, and then BH kind of got a half stride ahead where his lead was out front and the others were back , which is an encouraging finishing detail as well.
I am still not impressed with BH as a really special one. He seems very good and very consistent. I see quality but not brilliance. And I wouldn't call that a Grade1 Turf race. In California if you think the dynamics are a little different, maybe that was close to a "California" Grade1. Bold Hawk did stand out a lot as more of a true turf distance horse than the others. Would love to see this guy continue his form into the 11 and 12 furlong distances.
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