Del Mar Derby

[P-Dub]

Unfortunately, nobody had Madeo in the Derby yesterday. How could you when Mr. 5 Wide Mike Smith was riding? Who would ever expect a HOF rider coming up the rail while the others go wide on the last turn, then running down the leaders. Great ride by Smith, and just another reminder of the ridiculous statements muttered around these parts. ( Smith sucks, he always goes wide, lost his nerve, blah blah blah). If Gomez and Smith switch trips, who wins??  

Now you guys want to tell a major horse owner where he should run his horse. I\'m sure Mr. Irwin has a pretty good idea where to run them.

[jimbo66]

P-Dub,

I know you are a west coast player as you have mentioned it in a number of your posts.

It is hard for me to believe you are being objective if you think Mike Smith is riding as well now as he did when he earned his reputation back in NY.  I agree that he seems to be everybody\'s favorite \"whipping boy\" for his wide trips, but I think he has earned that reputation.  I am not saying he has \'lost his nerve\' but he goes wide too often, period.  That doesn\'t mean he can\'t occasionally give a great or rail-skimming ride, but that is a rarity with him and those that watch the west coast game regularly are aware of that.  It often even gets built into the prices of the horses he rides.

I have numerous people that have met the man talk about what a great person he is, which is fine.  But I don\'t want Mike SMith up on my horse if I am looking to save ground.

[JR]

I was at Saratoga the day Smith broke his back. Eddie Cotto drove him right through the hedge. It was the last race of the last day of my stay and Smith was riding my only chance at leaving even. Mike learned a lesson that day. Unfortunately, I didn\'t.

[P-Dub]

jimbo66 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> P-Dub,
>
> I know you are a west coast player as you have
> mentioned it in a number of your posts.

Yes I am.
 
> It is hard for me to believe you are being
> objective if you think Mike Smith is riding as
> well now as he did when he earned his reputation
> back in NY.

Never said he\'s riding as well as he ever has.

> I agree that he seems to be
> everybody\'s favorite \"whipping boy\" for his wide
> trips, but I think he has earned that reputation.

Lots of riders circle wide on the turn, especially with closers to get a clear run. Smith is hardly the only one that will take a horse wide. Most jockeys take their horses wide to avoid trouble. Smith will come up the rail when given the opportunity, as he did Monday. Its not the first time.

> I am not saying he has \'lost his nerve\' but he
> goes wide too often, period.  That doesn\'t mean he
> can\'t occasionally give a great or rail-skimming
> ride, but that is a rarity with him and those that
> watch the west coast game regularly are aware of
> that.  It often even gets built into the prices of
> the horses he rides.

To say he goes wide too often, period....Everyone is entitled to their opinion. Sometimes a statement is repeated often enough that it takes on a life of its own. Whether its true or not, thats another story. He\'s often a price because he\'s often not on the best horse, not because of potentially wide trips.
 
> I have numerous people that have met the man talk
> about what a great person he is, which is fine.
> But I don\'t want Mike SMith up on my horse if I am
> looking to save ground.

The owners of Madeo didn\'t mind it yesterday.

Next time you watch So Cal racing, note which jockeys go wide.  Gomez or Bejarano come flying down the lane 5 wide and its a great ride. They all do it. To single out Smith is IMO misguided.

[miff]

Re Mike Smith,coined \"Wide Mikey\" years ago in NY when he was a top rider.During his ascendancy to the top rider level, Smith hooked up with Shug/Phipps riding all of their top horses.Just about all of them had that wide Belmont sweep style of winning and they won alot for years.

Smith became accustomed to those runners(he often sat motionless, wide off the turn and won easily) and began to give many more wide rides than he had previous to the Shug/Phipps relationship.He began to ride like they were all\"Cadillacs\" but they were not.

I have seen several jocks get hurt badly and become a little gun shy going thru a hole or staying away from the fence but Smith got into that wide habit and it followed him.After losing his top jock status he went to Cali.I think he can still ride fairly well and the Poly suites his style somewhat better. As Paul said, lots of wide sweeping winners ridden by Bejarano and The Great Garret Gomez in Cali.FWIW,some horses will not run down inside and are taken wide by design,e.g Rags To Riches.

Overall, I\'d rate Smith neutral as a jockey with definite wide tendencies, he can still send one pretty good.I\'d just add that ground loss is over rated in certain circumstances.Overall trip trumps ground loss,imo.There are many warring inside speeds getting far worse trips than horses that sit just back and circle wide(losing ground) running past spent horses.Of course, there are instances where the horse losing all the ground gets beat only because of it.



Mike