Mario o' Mario, please go back to Maryland o' Mario!

[blackthroatedwind]

I agree with you that the two rides were different situations, as most are, but I thought it was worth pointing out that sometimes doing what you and I both know is the right thing ends up ironically blowing up in one's face.

As for the Preakness, I don't have the energy, but I don't believe he had a realistic choice with CP West ranging up outside of him, and considering natural instincts of a competitive racehorse, wrangling him back could have, and well would have, been both difficult and a mistake. I can hear the criticisms he would have taken for that ringing in my head when it inevitably blew up as well. The bottom line is he finished exactly where he should have that day.....third. He was never going to beat either of those two horses if denied the early lead.

By the way, it is only recently that I have even seen him ride on any kind of regular basis, and my only history with him has been what Andy Beyer has told me about him.....and we all know that isn't complimentary. I'm far from predisposed to be a Pino fan but I just think I have seen some recent unfair criticism of him. Considering what Norberto Arroyo did in yesterday's 8th race, and what Pablo Fragoso did in the 9th, two rides nobody has seen fit to comment on, I feel there is far worse going on at Aqueduct that for whatever reason ( perhaps because it is less obvious ) gets completely ignored.