Garret Gomez?

[Chuckles_the_Clown2]

Well, the connections of Hard Spun took Pino off the horse.

He clearly made a premature move into a hot paced Preakness and though he ran well to the wire it certainly cost him multiple lengths. He also let the horse work a little too fast for the Derby. I\'m just not a big fan of switching off journeymen jockeys for younger guys. What Triple Races has Gomez won? Pino knows Hard Spun and the Belmont is shaping up into an a race where his style will be a factor.

Reminds me of Frankel taking Pincay off of Megadalia d\' oreocookie for the Belmont.

http://www.drf.com/news/article/85259.html

[miff]

......\"Well, the connections of Hard Spun took Pino off the horse\".




He should also be arrested for impersonating a jockey in the Preakness.


Mike

[Silver Charm]

Personally I feel Pino should not be the only individual singled out here. I commented after the race to a good friend that the race riding resembled amateur hour.

That includes the others who hit the board.

Laffit, Eddie D, Chris, Pat, Jerry and Gary where have you gone.......

[fkach]

IMHO, HS could turn out to be one of the most mishandled Triple Crown horses in awhile.

To begin with, they did the horse a very big favor by taking him back in the Southwest and trying to teach him to rate before the Derby. He had a very wide trip and moved into the hottest part of the race, but he ran very well despite the 4th place finish. Of course the trainer was convinced that because he lost he must have hated the surface and he started changing plans (not a good idea).  

He came back with a very nice race in the Lanes End, but then more mistakes were made.

First they couldn\'t make up their mind whether to run in the Bluegrass or not and probably changed training or didn\'t train properly.

Then he was worked in company with a very fast stakes quality filly and wound up going out in 22 44 57+ pretty much undoing all the benefit of his recent two races off the pace. So he wound up using himself in the Derby on the lead in a fast early 4F.

Then he gets a bad ride into a hot pace in the Preakness.

I\'m probably the last guy in the world to encourage a trainer to pass a race with a sharp horse and give him more time, but I think this horse needs a rest. He\'s been racing since last October without a break, has been running in very tough races with tough trips, and is now being asked to go 12F. Even if he wins or runs another good race, this can\'t be a good idea if they want a reasonably fresh horse for later in the year. The worst case is that the Belmont ruins him for the rest of the year or worse.

[SoCalMan2]

It seemed to me like Hard Spun ran a huge race in the Derby.  It is pretty hard to get a horse to run a big new top in the Derby.  Look how many very good horses have tried and failed. Hard Spun smashed the rest of the Derby field.  Street Sense needed to run a huge number AND a good trip to beat him.  It would seem to me that Larry Jones deserves kudos for the job he did bringing Hard Spun into the Derby.  I wish I managed things that well under such excruciating pressure.  Back in the old days, they used to put a real bottom on a horse.  Blowing a horse out very sharply before the race to put a little speed back into him in case the stamina work dulled him -- a very quick three furlongs was not unusual -- made a lot of sense because sometimes a horse needs speed.  I think the work suited Hard Spun quite well.

[MO]

Agreed. Pino was in a no win situation. He had 2 choices: Let HS roll, or strangle him. If you strangle a horse that\'s begging to run, you discourage the horse and there\'s a good chance you screw that horse\'s head up forevermore. I think he made the right choice, even though I am on record as not being a fan. When HS finishes up the track at Belmont I wonder if Prado replaces Gomez?

[fkach]

I agree that the horse ran a huge Derby. He did it using a style that reduced his chances of winning given the fractions for the first 4F. You could argue that if Pino choked the horse back it would have been worse and I would actually agree with that.  I would simply argue that without a 22 44 57 work the horse wouldn\'t have been nearly as \"aggressive\", could have tucked and rated just off the pace, and might have actually won. He already demonstrated that capability before he was worked like he was prepping for the BC Sprint.  

Isn\'t the idea to get a peak without damaging a couple of months of versatility training you just put the horse through?

One highly regarded trainer suggested he needed a hard fast work because the training prior to that was too light. Well if that\'s true, then whose fault was that?

I think the horse did well despite the training and not because of it. IMO, it\'s a credit to the horse\'s natural ability to have run so well in both races despite having no solid plan to get him there, a suspect work, and a terrible ride.

[cubfan0316]

jockeys are as smart as their body size. pea-like.

[xichibanx]

Pino sealed his fate when he came first over in the Preakness going three wide into a fast pace for no reason.  There was one word to describe him after that race, goof.

And for those who may comment later, I did not bet Hard Spun in the race.

[miff]

Tough to say if Hard Spun has anything left but Garrett Gomez adds a couple of lengths for sure.

Mike

[MO]

A jockey once told me: I have my idea how to ride this race, the trainer has his/her idea, and the horse has his/her idea. The horse usually wins\"

[Chuckles_the_Clown2]

Hard Spun was my Key and I was disappointed. Pino moved into a very hot pace with a premature strong move. I haven\'t even bothered to calculate the fracton, because whatever the raw accelleration fraction was it was as good as a horse can run.

I\'ve read here that he was under a stranglehold. (I\'m feeling a Ted Nugent song rendition coming on here....Nah..I\'ll wait.) I observed Hard Spun rating very kindly and running very smoothly. He was urged to go and he quickly took the lead. I was also impressed by C.P.West at that stage of his career. He also put in a run that can\'t be ignored.

My only question is how effective has Gomez been at Belmont? He finished 8th last year with Bob and John. They dont\' run 1.5 miles any longer, what makes anyone think that Gomez has the timing for the race?

Another Crazy Irishman:

Everytime I think of Eddie Sexton\'s live interview for the 2005 Derby I about break out laughing. Sexton is in the Paddock \"overseeing\" the final pre race preparations for Bellamy Road and Bob Neumeyer is attempting to conduct a pre post parade interview. Bob asks a couple questions and Sexton appears to mumble some unintelligable mono syllable response. Bob tries again and finally Sexton\'s face morphs into a contorted mass hued by Jamesons and he blurts out: \"Da hoarse...da hoarse\". Funniest thing I\'ve ever seen watching the races. Thereafter he took over training of \"da champeon\". He never ran another race.

Which brings me to the point at hand. Now we have another Irishman claiming that Curlin stood out from hundreds of yearlings. He did? Then why did he go for 57K with that pedigree? I mean 57K isn\'t chicken feed, but the good yearlings sell for a million all the time. Granted he did sell for 3.5 million as a three year old and is probably worth conservatively 25 million now.

When an Irishman will talk to you, why are they always full of Blarney?

http://www.drf.com/news/article/85244.html

xichibanx Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Pino sealed his fate when he came first over in
> the Preakness going three wide into a fast pace
> for no reason.  There was one word to describe him
> after that race, goof.
>
> And for those who may comment later, I did not bet
> Hard Spun in the race.

[miff]

My only question is how effective has Gomez been at Belmont? He finished 8th last year with Bob and John. They dont\' run 1.5 miles any longer, what makes anyone think that Gomez has the timing for the race?



Chuck,

I\'ll assume you have not been follwoing too closely.Garret Gomez is riding better than any jock for the past year and is currently the MOST sought after by trainers/owners with a big horse.


Mike

[Chuckles_the_Clown2]

I saw someone post the names of the great jockeys that have retired in the last five years. If those guys were still riding would Gomez have the same opportunities?

That said, whats more important, a Jockey popularly perceived as heir apparent  or a Jockey thats seen thousands of races and knows the horse? That rhetorical question subsumes the popular jockey has greater skill.

I read the Pre Derby opinion on Gomez outfinishing Velasquez from a limited data sample, (about 5 races or so). Gomez lost the head to head in the Derby and if Gomez was so skilled why did he run Any Given Saturday like he did?

To my knowledge Gomez has never won a Triple Crown Race. The guy is 35 years old. I lost upon him in 1994 with Southern Rhythm. He does have a couple B.C. wins with over 20 mounts. In the B.C. winning at 10% is respectable. But he lost when he should have won too.

Pino has never had a B.C. mount and won at a higher percentage than Gomez\'s 20% last year. Still, Pimlico is his backyard and he did inexplicably Butcher the ride. The horses that beat him were no slouches. I thought he deserved a chance to redeem himself, like a bettor does. Sometimes we lose, but its rewarding to turn the tables. I just wanted to see Pino have that opportunity and can\'t say Gomez is a positive move.

As far as Gomez being a jockey to wager on. I\'m not sure any jockey deserves that and if Gomez does deserve it one day it certainly is a day in the future.


Miff, I saw him ride miff Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> My only question is how effective has Gomez been
> at Belmont? He finished 8th last year with Bob and
> John. They dont\' run 1.5 miles any longer, what
> makes anyone think that Gomez has the timing for
> the race?
>
>
>
> Chuck,
>
> I\'ll assume you have not been follwoing too
> closely.Garret Gomez is riding better than any
> jock for the past year and is currently the MOST
> sought after by trainers/owners with a big horse.
>
>
> Mike

[miff]

Chuck,

Right now, who is better. I think you have to remember that he was a \"problem\" guy until a couple of years ago.
Not talking old history, right now he is top 1,2,3 depending on your opinion of Prado or Johnny V.


Never said he was a Bailey or whoever.

Mike