Quote:
Originally Posted by brianwspencer
Just to jump back in for a second, as president of the Workin For Hops Fan Club, and I think that you know I feel this way and I am (against my better judgment after the past year) going to give you credit and say that I think you know this too, but want to be sure: The proactive ride and cutting a horse loose at the 3/8 pole is not *always* the smart thing to do. Maybe I'm giving Cisco too much credit, but I think that it's a really sharp thing to do when your main competition is going to be closing from far back -- that's when I want to see my rider cut a horse loose and leave the closers with way too much to do.
Both the American Derby and Virginia Derby, IMO, were those kinds of races this weekend, but like I said, it may not have made a difference anyway at Colonial. If they both show up in the Secretariat, we're likely going to find out what that kind of ride looks like when Paddy O'Prado is in the race too and we'll find out what he's made of.
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This is an interesting point about handicapping that isn't discussed enough, there are no 2 correct ways of riding horses. The main point I am trying to stress is the often mentioned premature move is not necessarily accurate and really for this board is far too simplistic. For horses like a Gio Ponti, who are deep closers you wait and make that one big run, for others simply saving that horse for the final 2/8ths and not pay attention to race dynamics is a closed way of thinking, if one watches Interactif's best turf races, his runs are on the turn, where he separates himself from the opposition as he did at Saratoga last year when he beat POP. I don't know if he would have beaten POP this Saturday if he was allowed to run this same way, but he would have been in a better position to succeed IMO>.