Oxbow

[Travis Stone]

Originally Posted by Travis Stone

As for the jockeys... this is a serious problem in American racing. It's getting worse by the minute. At LAD where, granted, we don't have a bunch of future Hall of Famers, we had a rider yank a horse off the pace that was ultimately posted over 25 seconds for the quarter despite a good rail/speed bias.

Originally Posted by cmorioles

Well said. It seems like most ride races like they are on synthetic surfaces, whether they are or not.

The horse I was talking about just ran back today (Race 5, #5 Club). Last time out, third-off the layoff w/improved figure in last (my favorite angle), he broke on top and had a 1-1/2 length lead at the first call but was pulled back to fourth. The fractions were 26-flat and 52 4/5. He finished 3rd after swimming in the stretch of the inside/speedy track.

Today the same rider put him on the lead with two other horses and he held for second at 19-1. The winner was the second place finisher from his last out. Now, the splits today were 25-1/5 and 49-1/5... the only mistake was not stepping on it a bit and taking a clear lead. The track is rather speed friendly, he probably would have won.