Jose Lezcano

[FrankD.]

Anyone catch his classic ride in the De La Rose today on Keertana ? Is it anywonder why he is 2 for 40 something at the meet  Both winners were for Chad 50 % Brown !!!

He ran up the rear end of 3 different horses at the back of the pack before he swung out Mike Smith Wide to gobble up ground through the stretch for second a half a length short.

Wait for this thoro number to come out ?

Yes it did cost this disguntled bettor a pick 4 times 10 !!!

[alm]

I\'m sorry this cost you, but if I\'m stuck behind a wall of horses at the head of the lane, there is NO one else I would rather have on the horse I bet than this guy...he\'s got the courage and I have won bets on him in these circumstances.

[P-Dub]

If you\'re gonna use the incredibly lame \"Mike Smith wide\" description, which is ridiculously overused......no sympathies from here.

I might find a tissue for you tho.

[jack72906]

You know you\'re right about the \"Mike Smith wide\" comment. It\'s ridiculous, old, overused, and boring. Unfortunately though, if anyone needs a tissue it\'s the overly sensitive west coast contingent on this board.

[P-Dub]

jack72906 Wrote:
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> You know you\'re right about the \"Mike Smith wide\"
> comment. It\'s ridiculous, old, overused, and
> boring. Unfortunately though, if anyone needs a
> tissue it\'s the overly sensitive west coast
> contingent on this board.


Last time I checked Smalltimer had made several critical remarks regarding Zenyatta\'s campaign.  I have also made similar comments. You make no sense.

Overly sensitive west coast contingent, whatever the hell that means.

[HP]

Have not posted in a long time, but I have to vouch for Lezcano, especially on grass.  I can\'t get at the meet stats through my work firewall.  I won\'t argue with the 2-for-40, but I\'d be curious what his in-the-money % is.  It\'s a tough meet for a lot of good jockeys up there.  

I don\'t know what is more tired, the \"Mike Smith wide\" or the \"slow NY-bred rats.\"  Rachel/Zenyatta threads are close, but not as insulting (a few have come close?).  

I really enjoyed Papa Chach\'s story and the one about Dutrow at the bar!  Now those are posts!  

HP

[FrankD.]

51 - 3 - 6 - 14     6% win   45 % in the money as of 8/5

Not a total indictment on an up and coming rider but 6 horse fields at Aqueduct are a bit easier navigate then 12 at Saratoga with the best jovk colony around riding. Catch a replay of the race if you can, it was that bad !!!

As for Mike Smith wide: Nicknames and reputations are earned not just given out.
IE: Bugsy Siegel ! Think he wasn\'t nuts ?

[P-Dub]

FrankD. Wrote:
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> As for Mike Smith wide: Nicknames and reputations
> are earned not just given out.
> IE: Bugsy Siegel ! Think he wasn\'t nuts ?

How wide did he go in last year\'s Classic??  Thought so.

Reputations often outlive their usefulness. The problem is that reputations are difficult to shake once they are tied to an individual.

There are also many nicknames given that have no basis in fact.

Its just an old and tired reference that has far outlived its usefulness. If you owned a horse, you could do a whole lot worse than having Mike Smith ride it.

[FrankD.]

P-Dub,

I know quite a bit about Mike Smith. I lived in Chicago in the 80\'s after he was a bug rider at Canterbury in Minnesota he came to Chicago to ride the Illinois & Kentucky circuits in 86 or 87. He hooked up with a couple of young mid-west trainers named Bill Mott & Shug McGaughey and started winning a lot of races. The jock colony on that circuit at the time was none too shabby. Pat Day, Randy Romero, Earlie Fires, Don Brumfield, Jorge Romero

He moved to NY in 89 and Shug got the Phipps stable and he had a 10 year run where he was as good as anybody and earned his hall of fame induction for sure. From 91-98 he was on top and first call for many top outfits.

In 98 he had 2 horrific spills, one at Gulfstream & one at Saratoga a month after he came back from the Gulfstream injury. He\'s never been the same rider, not even close. He lost all his NY business and went to Cali in 2001 I believe.

It\'s not uncommon for jocks to stop gunning through holes and skimming the rail after such injuries. Who can blame them ? He like another top NY rider in the 70\'s and 80\'s Eddie Maple became known to trip handicappers as jocks who took the overland route. Robbie Albardo seems to be falling into that rut.

When is the last time you saw Mike shoot the rail or try to go between horses ? It\'s been awhile.

[richiebee]

Hey Frank:

It was good to meet you last weekend, and your memory of \"Iron\" Mike\'s career is
the same as mine. You made me feel pretty old by mentioning Brumfeld though.

To be fair Mike did put a near perfect ground saving ride on Proviso in the Diana.

Had a brutal weekend at the windows, but I am going to look for some turf closers
who may have been running against the cut of the courses on 7/30, 7/31 and 8/1 in
their next start.

[P-Dub]

Frank,

He may not ride like he used to, but he still rides well enough.  I distinctly remember him taking Becrux up the rail on a supporting stakes race on BC Ladies Day 2008 and paying 30 bucks.  It was a great ride and took a bit of nerve coming up the rail through traffic.

Many jocks take the wide route, I think Mike gets a bum rap at times for the reasons you stated.  He had a well known accident that many know about, thus the wide Mike name. Maybe he isn\'t as daring as he used to be, but he hasn\'t lost all nerve. Look up that Becrux race and you will see an excellent, steely ride.

Appreciate the thoughts and perspective from someone on the scene as you were back then. Very informative.

[alm]

What\'s strange about these posts, focusing on a supposedly scared Mike Smith, is Lezcano being similarly tagged for taking one horse wide.

Sorry, but this guy will shoot any hole anywhere on the racetrack if the horse is up to it and you make a mistake thinking otherwise.  So maybe he\'s not winning so far at Saratoga...a lot of good jockeys aren\'t...I don\'t care and you shouldn\'t.

When he gets the stock this young man will put his body on the line for you.  If you watch enough replays of his races this past season at Gulfstream, he\'ll have you praying for him when he\'s driving through small openings near the rail.  He\'s the real deal.

Lighten up.  We all lose most of our bets anyway.

[nyc1347]

alm Wrote:
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> Sorry, but this guy will shoot any hole anywhere
> on the racetrack if the horse is up to it and you
> make a mistake thinking otherwise.  So maybe he\'s
> not winning so far at Saratoga...a lot of good
> jockeys aren\'t...I don\'t care and you shouldn\'t.
>
> When he gets the stock this young man will put his
> body on the line for you.  If you watch enough
> replays of his races this past season at
> Gulfstream, he\'ll have you praying for him when
> he\'s driving through small openings near the rail.
>  He\'s the real deal.



I completely agree with this.  And this would go for ALL jockeys.  The biggest factor is having the correct horse for a race.  A jockey cant win unless that happens.  WHEN a jockey has the right horse THESE specific trips and split second decisions come down to the jockeys decisions which falls (to me) into the category of racing luck. We cannot control that in handicapping and for what happened to Lezcano this race doesnt mean it will happen the next.  Same goes for all jockeys.  We as thorograph users should thrive on betting a guy who is 2 for 40 or whatever record it is cause when he makes those correct decisions and has the right horse that is obvious on paper, chances are the horse will be a very nice price due to public perception on jockey record.

Also, a large part of that 2 for 40 (or whatever) record a jockey may have is not having a horse that even comes close to competing.  You cant take THAT away from them when he actually has a horse such as this specific race.  In a betting perspective, if a jockey HAS a horse that could win in a race and brings that horse home 2 out 15 times and you are getting 10 to 1 average odds or more, isnt that a profit?