Coa's ride in the FOY

[ninetoone]

I'm not saying Coa didn't ride well, just that Kent got the jump on him & he didn't seem to expect it.

[blackthroatedwind]

Originally Posted by the_fat_man

Alot of you guys have much in common with my local OTB patrons. The race is not about who gets the lead on the turn but, rather, who's ahead at the wire. Actually, Coa gave the horse an incredible ride by NOT moving too soon/sharply on the turn. To that point, he'd run more than Cool Cool Man, who was inside sucking up the entire race, and there was no need for him to blow by two horses that had dueled and were ready to quit. If he emulates Kent and moves sharply to the lead, he's DEAD. And, if Kent sits chilly, rather than rocketing off the rail, and entering the stretch OUTSIDE of EF, he'd have won for fun. Only the premature move by Kent made EF look so good. I don't get it with these jocks (Kent NOT Coa, in this case). The leaders are ready to quit, NOBODY is coming, and we're abusing horses with premature moves. These horses would've run 1-2 no matter what, the way the race shaped up.

I guess Kent still hasn't learned anything from the 1997 Belmont.

I wish every horse I bet gets the kind of ride Coa gave Elysium Fields. If only it were so.

[Cannon Shell]

I thought that Cool Coal Man was tiring more than EF was rallying

[Kasept]

From Welsch's GP Track Notes today:

Elysium Fields impresses Tagg

Like McGaughey, trainer Barclay Tagg was extremely happy with the performance of a runner-up this weekend. The steadily improving Elysium Fields was second-best behind Cool Coal Man in the Fountain of Youth.

"I was very pleased with his effort," Tagg said of Elysium Fields. "He did everything right. He was right there from the start, took the lead where he was supposed to, and battled back when headed by the winner. I couldn't have asked for any more. He did everything perfectly."

[Travis Stone]

Originally Posted by ateamstupid

I didn't say anything about his ride into the first turn. I just think he was overconfident and waited too long (i.e. until Cool Coal Man had blown by him) to shake up his horse. My feeling is that you shouldn't "settle until the 1/8 pole" unless you're tons the best.

Coa rode Elysium Fields superbly. I think the finish is clouding your perception a bit. 99% of the time when a horse like Cool Coal Man blows by EF like he did at the top of the stretch, the horse goes on to win like a good thing. When Coa took the lead, after a long time racing three-wide with the pace, he snapped the horse on the right shoulder and shook him up. Unfortunately, CCM had a quicker turn of foot.

Down the stretch, CCM started to hang a bit, and I'm sure Coa thought maybe he could back-up and win, but realistically, he knew he was beat. Considering the brutal post draw, the fact he raced wide on both turns, showed some guts late after taking the lead when he was supposed to, it was a great effort.

If Coa had done what you're saying and went all-out, whipping like he was neck-and-neck in the Ky. Derby at the top of the stretch, he might have stuck with CCM for a while longer but then eventually lost. And the losing margin for the latter scenario would have been larger.

Thumbs-up to Coa!

[ateamstupid]

Originally Posted by Travis Stone

Coa rode Elysium Fields superbly. I think the finish is clouding your perception a bit. 99% of the time when a horse like Cool Coal Man blows by EF like he did at the top of the stretch, the horse goes on to win like a good thing. When Coa took the lead, after a long time racing three-wide with the pace, he snapped the horse on the right shoulder and shook him up. Unfortunately, CCM had a quicker turn of foot.

Down the stretch, CCM started to hang a bit, and I'm sure Coa thought maybe he could back-up and win, but realistically, he knew he was beat. Considering the brutal post draw, the fact he raced wide on both turns, showed some guts late after taking the lead when he was supposed to, it was a great effort.

If Coa had done what you're saying and went all-out, whipping like he was neck-and-neck in the Ky. Derby at the top of the stretch, he might have stuck with CCM for a while longer but then eventually lost. And the losing margin for the latter scenario would have been larger.

Thumbs-up to Coa!

Okay Nostradamus. How do you know what would have happened? I think that Cool Coal Man would've gotten discouraged that he couldn't run past Elysium Fields and would have begun to tire even earlier than he did. That's just my opinion though. If you want to argue that this race set EF up better for the Derby, that's fair. I just think Coa could have won the race, and he didn't.

[ateamstupid]

Originally Posted by DaHoss9698

I can sort of see both sides, but ultimately I think Cool Coal Man won the race because it took Elysium Fields a little longer to accelerate than he. By the time Elysium Fields got going Cool Coal man had the race won. Hard to fault Coa for that.

You don't think his delayed acceleration had anything to do with Coa sitting chilly until the blow-by?