Again,the "top money winning jockey" is the get out of jail free card.
If not that card,then "top trainers use him," and that's a get out of jail free card#2. It is not a big issue to me.I don't bet the guy anymore on chalk.He rides everything like it's a 3rd or 4th choice in the race,and that just doesn't work on chalk.Everybody knows where you are at (if you are prohibitive chalk.)When he adjusts to this,and realizes that he can't just put chalk anywhere he wants(and eventually get out,)then he will be playable on chalk.As far as yesterday's race goes,I don't think that what he did in the final 16th is very important.Horse is simply stopping,and I personally don't think tappin' that a$$ one more time will do that much ,but to each his own.Like I said,he made a very quick move with quite a distance to still run,and I would rather have seen a smoother move to the front.I would much rather somebody move too early than to wait,and get in trouble.If you notice,the only issue I have with the guy is getting horses stuck in a bad spot that his fellow jocks won't let him out of.For instance,in the race on Kewen,he is stuck behind horses on a 7/5.He then wants to get outside of them,and somebody coming from the back isn't having it(because he has a chance to keep a 7/5 trapped in.)So,he has no place to go in front of him,or outside of him.The horse in front of him slows and goes wide as he hits the dirt.All Gomez can do is take his horse up.Game over.I just think he always has ridden a certain way(relax your horse and come with an outside rush,)and he has to ride more defensively that that.I would agree that he is a great talent from off the pace.The best I have ever seen at closing.Problem is that he often places horses in spots that they can't get out of without the cooperation of others.If you're on a 7/2,you will probably get out.On the 6/5 chalk,we have seen that he often doesn't get out of that same spot.
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