Horse Psychology

[GenuineRisk]

It probably was a combination of factors, which might or might not include him hating New Mexico's climate, loving the mud, starting to figure it out again (he was a late foal and turns 3 for real in a week), clicking with a new jockey, several of the other horses stumbling or getting banged up or getting freaked by the crowd or hating the mud themselves. I do think there are horses that love attention (my uncle's old horse would stop in his tracks if he saw a camera and "pose" until the camera was put away), but I don't know that a horse would make the connection with the crowd and the race. In the end, they're still prey animals and a lot of noise usually means something bad to a prey animal.

In the stretch, he looked to be flying by the other horses because they were slowing down so noticeably.

For whatever combination of reasons- weather, racing luck, a good ride, feeling ready to race, etc., he put it all together on Saturday.