As an aside, Kieren Fallon, on Ace and the Arlington Million (can you tell I'm still upset he didn't get to ride here?).....
Excerpt, The Sunday Times (two weeks ago.....)
“No, I mean, I’ve ridden 12 Group One winners, but I’ve missed a lot. I would have loved to have ridden George Washington in the QE2. I could have had 13, 14, 15, maybe more. There were a couple in America as well. Ivan Denisovich was second in the Secretariat Stakes. Ad Valorem was third in the Woodbine Mile. Ace in the Arlington Million.”
“If you had been riding Ace,” I venture, “you might have gone close?”
“Well, I wouldn’t have been sitting out the back anyway,” he says. “You know what I mean? These guys don’t know the horses.”
“Is it a big deal to know the horse?” “Bloody sure it is.”
“Ace needed to be ridden more aggressively?” “He probably did,” he replies. “I’m not knocking the American boys, but they tend to ride the grass like they ride the dirt. They tend to leave the horse to go at a pace at which he is comfortable. I don’t think that way.”
|