The blocking back

[moses]

Originally Posted by MaTH716

I think Bravazo got forced to the rail where he didnt want to be, otherwise I think the whole thing is being blown out of proportion. That race was over when Justify broke alert and Javy didnt send with Noble. He was already a length back of Justify by the time Geroux did whatever the hell that was. If Flo wanted to run more significant interference, he couldve floated a few wide on the turn. I think this is a molehill being turned into a mountain. Gronk, Vino and even Bravazo all took a shot at him and just couldn't get him.

What I don’t get is this: It’s not like it was a huge surprise that Restoring Hope might do something like this. So none of the other horses/jockeys anticipated it and adjusted their strategy accordingly? Bravazo had enough position to run a suicide mission and press the pace but why would he do that? That style has failed him in all the big races.

The way I see it, the only horses RH really impacted were Tenfold (who got pinched between RH and NI at the beginning of the race) and Noble Indy, who may have only been in the race to try to press the pace. To the extent he impeded Tenfold, I’ve already mentioned in the “Tenfold” thread that it is extremely unlikely it made a difference for Justify. To the extent he impeded Noble Indy, it seems like a fair counterstrategy.