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Originally Posted by Suffolk Shippers
This is dead on. If I remember correctly Bailey specifically stated he and someone else were going to run up Smarty Jones and Elliot to goad them into a speed duel, because they knew Smarty was tough to handle.
I can almost guarantee Bailey was smiling all the way to the jocks room when Birdstone came up and nipped Smarty at the line.
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I am no Bailey fan at all, BUT I do have to defend him a little for the 04 Belmont. If he had allowed a 1/5 shot like Smarty have an uncontested lead in a race (especially a horse that he knows is tough to handle) he would not have been doing his job. I don't think he was JUST trying to beat Smarty Jones, I think he was trying to win the race with Eddington. Bailey didn't just try to engage in an all-out speed duel. He pressed the pace, forced Smarty to work early, and then he tried to settle Eddington in behind the pace. Are you guys really suggesting that Bailey was more interested in beating Smarty then winning the race himself? No way. He was trying to win the race (which is his job) and in order to do that he knew he had to beat Smarty Jones.....so he tried to do that. Just like any other race where a horse is a HUGE favorite, all of the other jocks are going to try to compromise that horse in some way....if they don't, they aren't doing their job.