[ateamstupid]

Originally Posted by Travis Stone

Coa rode Elysium Fields superbly. I think the finish is clouding your perception a bit. 99% of the time when a horse like Cool Coal Man blows by EF like he did at the top of the stretch, the horse goes on to win like a good thing. When Coa took the lead, after a long time racing three-wide with the pace, he snapped the horse on the right shoulder and shook him up. Unfortunately, CCM had a quicker turn of foot.

Down the stretch, CCM started to hang a bit, and I'm sure Coa thought maybe he could back-up and win, but realistically, he knew he was beat. Considering the brutal post draw, the fact he raced wide on both turns, showed some guts late after taking the lead when he was supposed to, it was a great effort.

If Coa had done what you're saying and went all-out, whipping like he was neck-and-neck in the Ky. Derby at the top of the stretch, he might have stuck with CCM for a while longer but then eventually lost. And the losing margin for the latter scenario would have been larger.

Thumbs-up to Coa!

Okay Nostradamus. How do you know what would have happened? I think that Cool Coal Man would've gotten discouraged that he couldn't run past Elysium Fields and would have begun to tire even earlier than he did. That's just my opinion though. If you want to argue that this race set EF up better for the Derby, that's fair. I just think Coa could have won the race, and he didn't.