Mike Smith rode a good race today, the main thing is his ride didn’t cost Mine that Bird the race. But to be accurate it wasn’t a great ride either. Anyone that looked deeper into the race by watching the replay, Mine That Bird had to check or atleast wait on heels when Smith split horses at the top of the stretch causing him to lose a bit of momentum, if he hadn’t RA would have probably still won but by a diminishing length, the result would have been much closer. To me the story of the race was John Velazquez riding to place in the race rather than trying to win it, he certainly wasn’t in a hurry today despite the honest fractions, a very safe ride I would term it, Big Drama pushed Rachel Alexandra but certainly didn’t break her.
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