Quote:
|
Originally Posted by parsixfarms
Actually, I think this may have been more the horse than the rider after the first quarter. If you watched the head-on replay as the field went down the backside, while Mission Approved was down on the rail, Sudan had to be out in the four or five path, so it's not like these two horses were battling head-to-head. It looked like Velazquez was trying to get his horse off Mission Approved but was unable to get the horse to relax.
I do agree with Sudan ran a big race, under the circumstances.
|
Johnny V just loves that wide trip. Whether it works or not is neither here nor there for him. He just keeps blowing race after race as a result. By I digress.
When dueling with a horse it's usually a good idea to stay relatively abreast to it, as then you can at least establish a steady tempo. (I don't know where the notion that being outside a horse, except in the stretch run, gives you an advantage came from -- it certainly doesn't work on turf in general and is not working these days at BEL) While Mission Approved was OFF the rail, significantly, Johnny was WAY to his outside. As a result, the horse is never able to establish any kind of rhythm in terms of stride, running with it's head to the right (on correct lead) and then switching to lefty lead for a good portion of the backstretch (which had him going all the more to the right). This is absolutely TERRIBLE FOOTWORK. (Blame both the trainer and jock for this.) When added to the poor trip in terms of pace, you get a sense of how well this horse ran. Johnny's ride was ALMOST as bad as the ride by Gomez on Colonel John. In each case, you wonder where they find the nuts to face the connections after.