Met

[phil23]

That makes 3 of us, with a little of the 4 thrown in just for good (costly that is) measure.

[plasticman]

THAS either wins in a canter or is well beaten. He doesnt like to battle hard in win photos. If you pin him in and make him uncomfortable, you have a shot. I was sad at Jackson Bend\'s effort today, he \'walked\' to the stalking trip and couldnt run a step today. He was \'bet\' like he was going to be \'no good\' today and he was.

[Silver Charm]

You NAILED it!! And its time to begin giving credit to the winner and Dale Romans who seems like he has now won a little bit of everything. Dirt ot Turf. And doesnt really have a specifcally big outfit backing him. 1:33:30 is real time!!

Should be a Super Spectacle on Belmont Day

[plasticman]

Romans is an amazing trainer, one of the best in the country, i would say he\'s one of the best 5 trainers in the game today.

[sekrah]

Was busy yesterdaay and just got a chance to watch the replay..  Man, Durkin needs to hang it up.  Like Yesterday.  What a thrilling race and pathetic call.   It\'s like watching Willie Mays struggling to chase down fly balls with the Mets.

[miff]

Plastic,

What were they thinking sending Jackson Bend on the chase in 44 & change, he\'s got one big run.Like Nick Zito but seriously have to question the many unorthodox moves/strategies he makes with his horses.

Mott on THAS, who failed to change leads and came up empty when a seam opened mid stretch.Might be one of the many that do not run their best on the inside while covered up.

\"An unlikely horse was keeping us in,\" said To Honor and Serve\'s trainer Bill Mott, referring to Jackson Bend. \"Somebody I didn\'t expect to be even close to the pace. He was probably willing to get up there and challenge the leader down the backside, but he couldn\'t do it because he was kind of being held in.\"

[Perfect Drift]

115 Beyer, I\'d assume Caleb\'s Posse threw another -3, at least.  Time to change jockeys, you can\'t have Maragh losing neck, nose, nose.

[Lost Cause]

Perfect Drift Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> 115 Beyer, I\'d assume Caleb\'s Posse threw another
> -3, at least.  Time to change jockeys, you can\'t
> have Maragh losing neck, nose, nose.


Tough call on the jock...Shack is a tough S.O.B. and he likes to fight it out also.  The speed bias didn\'t hurt either.  

I\'m not a fan of his but I don\'t think Maragh did anything wrong in any of the 3 races this year.  He made his run and he just missed against some hard hitters..

[Boscar Obarra]

the 3/3 race was also against the track . This horse is hard luck is all, jock has nothing to due with it. yeah, if could have come up the rail , maybe he gets up, but doubt he\'s able to make a run like that hugging the fence.

[plasticman]

mike, i think that 2 things were at work. 1) the previous race, the leader went right around the track and jogged, that baffert filly had equal beyer figs to the other speed horse and yet, the inside lane and the lead made the difference to the tune of many lengths.  Maybe Zito was thinking \"if im too far back i have no shot\"

Also, when jackson broke alertly, the jock just figured \"let me go on with it\" and he was in good position.

I think that Jackson bend will race better next time with a different style. He\'s gotta make one run from the back and just hope there isnt a huge speed bias.

When Durkin called him \'diminutive\' at the top of the stretch, i said to myself \"what am i doing betting on a really small horse vs this type of competion!\"

[miff]

On his day, Jackson Bend has wicked run.Like him best at 7f.

[Perfect Drift]

Here\'s the point... Maragh is a \"B\" list jockey and there\'s a reason for that, it\'s because he\'s not as good as Gomez, Castellano, Johnny V, Bejarano, Rosario, Leparoux, etc.  If one of them gets beat three times in a row neck, nose, nose... I could probably handle it.  But, when a \"B\" lister is beat the same way, I have to see if a jock change makes a difference.  Caleb is an AWESOME animal and he deserves the best jockey possible.

[sighthound]

I\'ve always had respect for Maragh as a horseman.  His \"B\" jock status comes from his venue, not his ability.  He\'s finally getting his national stage due. Watching those stretch runs, it seems to me he gets the max effort out of his animal, relaxed and trying hard.  I\'m just a big fan of one of the few jocks that ride with \"feel\" and intelligence.

I understand your point.  We\'ll see what the trainer choses to do.

[Rick B.]

Another factor is the trainer himself.

Us folks in the midwest know Donnie Von Hemel is an excellent horseman, but I don\'t know how much that helps him when he ships to the east coast. Rajiv might be the best local rider Von Hemel can book.

I can\'t imagine Johnny V\'s agent saying, \"Yes, Todd, I know you have a great horse in this race, but...we\'re going to give this Caleb\'s Posse a try for this trainer from Oklahoma\".

Of course I\'m being a little silly, but you get the idea.