Jockeys are brutally overrated.
A lot of jockeys have been very unfairly criticized for losing the Belmont.
If you look at the Moss pace figure that Randy Moss did going back to 1988 -- Real Quiet had the fastest Moss figure to the mile in the entire history of the Kentucky Derby. Real Quiet sired a horse like Midnight Lute who was a strong closing 2-time Breeders Cup Sprint winner.
They weren't going fast at all in the Belmont that year -- and Real Quiet's move came extremely late in the race for him if you're someone who looks at numbers. He probably would have been rank and pulling if Desormeaux kept restraining him any longer. He merely rated him the best he could and let him run his race. Real Quiet was never a star before or after the Triple Crown -- but he was always a good horse.
Big Brown had an issue with an unhinged shoe in the Belmont. It was visible in pictures. He put in a total non-effort. No one was going to win on him.
Smarty Jones was getting a perfect trip -- but suddenly had his hand forced by an insanely pre-mature move by Rock Hard Ten through scorching middle fractions. Rock Hard Ten was the only horse in the race who appeared to be any competition at all -- so he had to go with him. RHT was the one who got a truly stupid ride and that led to him getting crushed.
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