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Originally Posted by stonegossard
I'll try and keep it going.....
Dutrow criticizes Servis, Elliott
During Tuesday's conference call, Dutrow was asked if he feared someone trying to ride the Belmont just to beat Big Brown. It has been suggested by some observers that jockeys Jerry Bailey and Alex Solis moved their horses early in an attempt to force Smarty Jones and Elliott into a premature move.
Dutrow said he didn't believe that to be the case and criticized trainer John Servis and Elliott for the way they prepared Smarty Jones for the Belmont. Dutrow erroneously said that Smarty Jones had his last Belmont work over a sloppy sealed track at Philadelphia Park. The track was labeled fast for that move.
Dutrow, however, said Elliott should have taken Smarty Jones in hand late in the Preakness rather than win by 11 1/2 lengths.
"He did not need to win the way he did in the Preakness in order to get to the Belmont the right way," Dutrow said. "If you noticed our horse, Kent may have asked him for a little run turning for home, which he did, but at the eighth pole he grabbed a hold and he knew we still had another race to go through. I think that the connections of Smarty Jones just were not smart in order to get their job done for the Belmont."
The criticisms meant little to Servis.
"He's under a lot of pressure and a lot of times we say things we don't mean," Servis said. "I'm taking it with a grain of salt."
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While Servis/Elliott could be criticized for running off with the Preakness, Elliott did not ride him poorly in the Belmont. Horses went out of their form to push Smarty. They ended up tailing off while Smarty was still fighting in the stretch. I don't think they will do the same with Brown though. I think they were out to beat Smarty because they didn't like this upstart trainer from this small track with a small time jock winning the triple against them. Smarty was an excellent horse who would have been great if he could have over-come that gang-up.
Now if you want to get me started on a jock who I think is highly over-rated and prone to compromising his horse out of an inability to manage his anger, lets talk Sleepy (Kenny D.).