Thoughts about Belmont Day at Saratoga . . .

[Indian Hemp]

Originally Posted by JolyB

I was really impressed with the performance of Mindframe. Prior to the race, I recognized that he was talented and had performed very well in his only 2 career starts. However, I thought that he was up against too many more experienced and race toughened horses to have much of a chance. Never run in more than a NW1X and going up against the Derby winner, Preakness winner, Derby runner up and other winners of a number of graded stakes. Never run anything close to the distance. That he ran so well and was trying very hard at the end suggests to me that he could be a horse to be reckoned with in the future, perhaps the Travers. Todd knows what he is doing.

It was his inexperience that eliminated him for the top spot for me....and he ran like it....thankfully....

[NJ Stinks]

DonGuido, there is no doubt in my mind that the track was souped up but maybe I'm just bitter?! Let's go to a more reliable source - the over-blessed Chad Brown as quoted in the Thoroughbred Daily News on Saturday night with additional insight from Sierra Leone's jockey, Flavien Prat :

Though he appeared to lug in a bit in the Belmont stretch, that did not cost him the race. Brown noted that the track conditions worked against late-runners.

"It's a hard track to close ground on," Brown said. "Really, only
one race today someone closed. This would be the second one
that closed. It's disappointing the way they had the track today,
to be honest with you. It doesn't surprise me that a speed horse
won the race."

After the rough start, Brown said that Sierra Leone was unable
to deliver the type of strategic acceleration he needed to get
back into the race.
"My horse, he had an opportunity to improve his position on
the backside and he really didn't do it," Brown said. "It was a
tough beat."

Once he got Sierra Leone settled and running into the first turn, Prat figured things were OK.

"They were going quite fast so I was happy where I was," he
said. "I wish I could have gotten myself a little closer down the
backside, but I was not able."
Passing the quarter pole, Sierra Leone was on the move, but
he found trouble again when Protective (Medaglia d'Oro) forced
him to go very wide.
"The horse inside kept pushing me out," Prat said. "I wish I
could have just cleared him and get going. I was not able to do
that. We got to the turn and I took him back to the inside and he
came running, but he ran out of room."



Me again. Guess who was on Protective and pushed Sierra Leon out even further in the stretch to further insure he got beat? His former jockey - Tyler Gaffalione - that's who. And for the record, my hopes were mainly riding with Seize the Gray who I figured would like the speed-favoring track the most.

Here's the link to article I quoted in the Thoroughbred Daily News:
https://www.thoroughbreddailynews.co.../tdn240609.pdf

[RUFFIAN]

That Sound You Heard
At The Finish Line
Were Teardrops Falling
From The Eyes Of Mine 😿

Tho My Heart Was Wishing
Reality Then Set In
Just Too Much To Overcome
For Seize The Gray To Win 💔

[RUFFIAN]

PS
Without the bumping and interference at the start
I think SIERA LEONE Woulda Won

Anyone else agree with that?

[DonGuido]

Originally Posted by RUFFIAN

PS
Without the bumping and interference at the start
I think SIERA LEONE Woulda Won

Anyone else agree with that?

AGREE! Same thing I said in my first post.

[Indian Hemp]

Sierre Leone stumbled rather badly out of the gate. On that track, race over.

[cal828]

Chad said he wasn't surprised that a speed horse won the race. I wasn't surprised that a speed horse won. I was just surprised by which speed horse won. Figured it would be Seize the Gray, but I think the race was a little bit different than the Preakness in that there were one or two more "speed" horses than in the Preakness. All that said, I usually don't recognize the subtleties of track bias except when it is really very obvious that every race is won by a certain type of runner. One of these days, hopefully, I'll learn to make these observations before the race and not after. I keep trying, but it seldom works out.

[Indian Hemp]

We used to accuse CD of getting it like a highway for the Derby.

At least it wasn't sitting there for an hour in the sunshine after getting sealed.