Best and Worst Ride in the BC

[Travis Stone]

I actually thought Brian Hernandez's ride on Fort Larned was one of the best rides of the weekend. I know... it's easy to go to the lead and see what happens but I thought he did a lot of things right.

First off, the front was the place to be and he went there. Second, he maintained a comfortable advantage throughout and as they neared the far turn, he committed to the race. I think way too many jocks try and sit cute on their horse until the top of the stretch, at which point every other horse is back in the race and the front-end advantage is lost. He also could have easily worried about going too fast and tried to rate the horse (see Merit Man), but instead went on with it and won the whole thing.

[MaTH716]

Originally Posted by Travis Stone

I actually thought Brian Hernandez's ride on Fort Larned was one of the best rides of the weekend. I know... it's easy to go to the lead and see what happens but I thought he did a lot of things right.

First off, the front was the place to be and he went there. Second, he maintained a comfortable advantage throughout and as they neared the far turn, he committed to the race. I think way too many jocks try and sit cute on their horse until the top of the stretch, at which point every other horse is back in the race and the front-end advantage is lost. He also could have easily worried about going too fast and tried to rate the horse (see Merit Man), but instead went on with it and won the whole thing.

But couldn't you say that his job got a lot easier when Game On Dude didn't make the front?

[Travis Stone]

Originally Posted by MaTH716

But couldn't you say that his job got a lot easier when Game On Dude didn't make the front?

Sure, but that's horse racing. He also could have done what many riders do, particularly in NY as of late, and yank back and turn every race into a turf-like affair.

[robfla]

Originally Posted by Travis Stone

I actually thought Brian Hernandez's ride on Fort Larned was one of the best rides of the weekend. I know... it's easy to go to the lead and see what happens but I thought he did a lot of things right.

First off, the front was the place to be and he went there. Second, he maintained a comfortable advantage throughout and as they neared the far turn, he committed to the race. I think way too many jocks try and sit cute on their horse until the top of the stretch, at which point every other horse is back in the race and the front-end advantage is lost. He also could have easily worried about going too fast and tried to rate the horse (see Merit Man), but instead went on with it and won the whole thing.

I may be imagining this, but it looked to me that at about the 1/8 pole - when MMM looked like he was going to run right by Fort Larned, Hernandez cocked the horse's head to the right to show Fort Larned the other horse coming to him. Fort Larned took off again. Maybe the horse was trying to lug out.. I don't know...I thought that was a great move if I'm correct.