Morning Line Question

[saratogadew]

If a horses' ML is 12-1 and he gets bet down to 3-1 but finishes 6th, is that still considered a bad ML? If the linemakers job is to predict how the public will bet, then finishing 1st or 6th should not matter. It would still be considered a bad morning line regardless of where the horse finishes. When a horse gets hammered down and wins, that's when the public cries "bad morning line". When a horse gets hammered down and finishes 6th, the handicappers say "the public was really off on that one". But isn't it a bad line regardless? Even though the linemaker was correct on the assessment of the horse. What's your take??