Nan

[the_fat_man]

Clearly, while the gate trouble was negligible, if the horse has room in the stretch, she wins for fun. Of course, except for the early backstretch, when Edgar had her wide, without cover, she had a perfect inside trip.

What's interesting about this race, however, is that the way it was run, it shapes up as a 'cavalry charge', as only a single horse is backing up the last split, and everything else in the race is gaining on the winner. As such, I suppose, Nan ran best as she was still able to pass horses that were gaining. I wonder, however, how she runs in a race that doesn't set up the same way.

But, if Nan has room, the race type is completely different: it's a 'wipeout', as everything else would've been backing up, rather than gaining, the last split.

So, a single horse lacking room changes the shape of the race.

P.S. I thought that Scintillation had a much worse trip.