Why no talk about the breakdowns at Santa Anita this weekend?

[Rupert Pupkin]

Originally Posted by the_fat_man

I was watching Grazen's race and thinking to myself:

'why is that IDIOT Gomez hellbent on PUSHING Grazen to the lead from the rail, when all he has to do is sit BEHIND Lethal Heat?'

I blame GG's ride for the breakdown in that instance. Putting undue/extra/unnecessary pressure on a game horse is not exactly the best way to go about things.

As for my 'defense' of POLY: I prefer FAIR tracks to all the SPEED FAVORING BIAS BS that is DIRT tracks. Moreover, I'm making a killing playing WO, AP, and the CALI POLY tracks. So much so, that I don't even bother with NYRA tracks (or any of the other dirt/turf tracks I used to play). Bet if I were a Beyer fanatic, I'd be bitching with the rest of you (losers).

P.S. I'd look more closely at TRAINING methods and RIDES by Jocks if I wanted to get to the bottom of why horses break down.

Most of Grazen's wins have been wire to wire. He went wire to wire sprinting and he went the half in :44 1/5. He's gone wire to wire routing going the half in :46 4/5. In the race on Saturday, he got the lead in :49 2/5. Why would a speed horse with :44 1/5 speed be taken back when he can get the lead in :49 2/5? Gomez is not a speed-crazy jockey by any means. But when he can get the lead going really slow (:49 2/5), he's going to go to the lead.

[the_fat_man]

Originally Posted by Rupert Pupkin

Most of Grazen's wins have been wire to wire. He went wire to wire sprinting and he went the half in :44 1/5. He's gone wire to wire routing going the half in :46 4/5. In the race on Saturday, he got the lead in :49 2/5. Why would a speed horse with :44 1/5 speed be taken back when he can get the lead in :49 2/5? Gomez is not a speed-crazy jockey by any means. But when he can get the lead going really slow (:49 2/5), he's going to go to the lead.

Gomez actually has become speed crazy. Some of his rides since DMR have been ridiculous.

Here's the only way I can respond to this, as I just don't agree with the 'conventional' way of doing things.

There's ZERO chance that Lethal Heat wires the field. She's shown that she'll collapse late in many of her races. And, the only way to keep any other horse in the race is by giving it a perfect setup, like the winner got. With the rail and enough speed to be able to easily sit behind cheap speed like LH, all Gomez has to do is STALK. By doing so, he ensures that he wins the race and takes everything else out the race. All he has to do is sit just behind LH and make ONE BID mid stretch. Instead, he has LH on his butt the entire race, with Bold Chieftain getting a perfect trip, and has to really get into Grazen when LH comes after him on the turn. So, rather than running from midstretch to the wire, Grazen has to be driven from the turn to the wire.

Obviously, he probably wins the race as it was run if the horse doesn't break down but WHY not win it in an easier fashion with much less pressure on the horse? If Gomez were doing the work, he'd ride the way I described. But since the horse is doing the work he really doesn't care how he rides him; or breaks him down.

Just my opinion.