Belmont Fractions

[Riot]

Borel said the horse was overeager, and he had to make the choice to throttle him back and fight him or let him cruise a little up the backstretch, he chose cruise.

The trainer said, "Yup, that's what the horse has done in the past unsuccessfully" and "that's racing, Calvin did a great job".

[SniperSB23]

Originally Posted by Riot

Borel said the horse was overeager, and he had to make the choice to throttle him back and fight him or let him cruise a little up the backstretch, he chose cruise.

The trainer said, "Yup, that's what the horse has done in the past unsuccessfully" and "that's racing, Calvin did a great job".

Do you believe everything anyone says?

[Riot]

Originally Posted by SniperSB23

Do you believe everything anyone says?

No, but I was watching the race, and saw it happening (Durkin didn't). Go watch the replay.

[SniperSB23]

Originally Posted by Riot

No, but I was watching the race, and saw it happening (Durkin didn't). Go watch the replay.

Don't worry, I've watched it. I also saw the trainer make his comments and despite how you are portraying them he was not happy with the ride at all. What I saw was Luv Gov drop back into Mine that Bird's face and Calvin decided to pass him and then for some bizarre reason decided to try and pass the rest of the field like he was on Secretariat.

[Riot]

Originally Posted by SniperSB23

Don't worry, I've watched it. I also saw the trainer make his comments and despite how you are portraying them he was not happy with the ride at all. What I saw was Luv Gov drop back into Mine that Bird's face and Calvin decided to pass him and then for some bizarre reason decided to try and pass the rest of the field like he was on Secretariat.

And that (differences in interpreting previous race replays) is what makes pari-mutual gambling rewarding.

[letswastemoney]

The trainer mentioned he wished Borel had kept MTB covered up on the rail. If Borel had done that, maybe he would have relaxed better.

[Antitrust32]

Originally Posted by SniperSB23

Don't worry, I've watched it. I also saw the trainer make his comments and despite how you are portraying them he was not happy with the ride at all. What I saw was Luv Gov drop back into Mine that Bird's face and Calvin decided to pass him and then for some bizarre reason decided to try and pass the rest of the field like he was on Secretariat.

You could easily tell the trainer wasnt happy with the ride. he even said that he moved too soon.

[Bobby Fischer]

Originally Posted by Riot

Borel said the horse was overeager, and he had to make the choice to throttle him back and fight him or let him cruise a little up the backstretch, he chose cruise.

The trainer said, "Yup, that's what the horse has done in the past unsuccessfully" and "that's racing, Calvin did a great job".

right it was a question of finesse. Borel wasn't going wild asking for run, he just let way too much horse out. He made a comment that they were going too slow up front approaching the stretch so he had to let 'em go

[SniperSB23]

Originally Posted by Bobby Fischer

right it was a question of finesse. Borel wasn't going wild asking for run, he just let way too much horse out. He made a comment that they were going too slow up front approaching the stretch so he had to let 'em go

The thing was they weren't going too slow. Borel completely misjudged the pace and made one of the worst premature moves of all time. If he waits he blows away Summer Bird.

[Bobby Fischer]

Originally Posted by SniperSB23

The thing was they weren't going too slow. Borel completely misjudged the pace and made one of the worst premature moves of all time. If he waits he blows away Summer Bird.

Right, Borel either didn't see the race accurately, or was making excuses in the interview.
A "perfect" ride definitely beats Dunkirk, but I don't think it beats Summer Bird.

[Bobby Fischer]

It's a lot tougher to get a horse to relax and move later, than it is to "let 'em scoot on up"...

for some reason scooting up is en vouge

Gomez was screwing up a lot of races like that, (in spite of doing it well a couple times with Pioneerof the Nile)

Borel screwed up on it today.

I guess [relaxing the horse instead of scooting] is one of those subtle riding skills we don't even see on replays unless we anticipate the situations and look for that type of thing.

I think scooting up sucks - unless you have one rival up front that is posing a winning threat while getting an uncontested breather

[CSC]

Originally Posted by SniperSB23

The thing was they weren't going too slow. Borel completely misjudged the pace and made one of the worst premature moves of all time. If he waits he blows away Summer Bird.

I couldn't disagree more with this statement, I said this before the Belmont so this is not a rear view mirror comment, but MTB has one quick big burst which is better suited around tighter turning tracks, it wasn't the timing of the move as much as he couldn't sustain it, if Borel had waited Summer Bird would have still won there's no doubt who was running better in the end. I don't even think Kent D rode him particularly well but just did an OK job.

[ddthetide]

i don't have a problem with the route borel chose but i hollered "to soon", as soon as MTB started to pick off horses.
i remember seeing a piece a couple years ago with jocks explaining strategies of this race. one thing they All agreed on, the common mistake was making a move or turning the horse loose to soon.