5/19 (PIM): Preakness Day

[blackthroatedwind]

Originally Posted by cakes44

I didn't love it; I just don't think he could have done that much else. Good Magic broke really well and it looked like Smith and Justify never wanted to clear. I guess Jose could have wrangled the horse back some, but then that brings in the possibility of being stuck wide and or behind another horse or two, which didn't seem to be the place to be on Saturday. I think Quip not showing up changed some plans pretty quickly as well.

Do I think the ride cost him 2nd though? Absolutely...and that's where I needed him to finish.

I'd definitely love to hear others' thoughts though.

The only thing he feasibly could have done was stayed out in the five or six path and floated Justify to the turn forcing Mike to have to make a decision, which in all likelihood would have meant using Justify to clear and cut over, and then Good Magic would have been stalking him....and very possibly would have won.

No sane person would suggest that Good Magic is better than Justify, but Saturday was the day to possibly beat him, and with a different scenario, Good Magic may well have done that. As it was, if Diamond Luck hadn't gotten in Tenfold's way, he might have tripped out into the victory.

Justify won on Saturday despite not running nearly his best race, which of course is a tribute to him, and the true mark of a very good race horse. Having said that, there were a couple of scenarios where he would have lost.

[Kasept]

Originally Posted by blackthroatedwind

The only thing he feasibly could have done was stayed out in the five or six path and floated Justify to the turn forcing Mike to have to make a decision, which in all likelihood would have meant using Justify to clear and cut over, and then Good Magic would have been stalking him....and very possibly would have won.

Baffert brought exactly this up today on ATR and added it’s why Smith moved for the lead when he did.