linrom1
06-08-2004, 08:08 AM
If I was an honest trainer/owner of RHT I would demand that Solis's riding license be revoked. His ride on RHT makes no sense at all unless the Belmont was a 6f sprint; he came at Smarty not once but twice and obviously was only motivated at defeating Smarty Jones. There is no other explanation for what happened at Belmont other then an effort to defeat Smarty Jones and prevent the horse from becoming a TC winner.
While I was never a big SJ supporter because I am not a fan of American speed only breeding, after watching the Belmont, I must conclude that this horse is indeed a very special one. It is a shame, though, that the Sevis team did not learn anything from history and other TC horses that went down in defeat like Spectacular Bid not by talent but by tactics: all the comparisons of Smarty Jones to Secretariat did not help either. Stewart Elliott must have thought that he was indeed on Secretariat rather then Spectacular Bid.
Racing had a chance to move to the public spotlight and has yet again failed miserably. A sport needs a champ, and racing doesn’t have one because in the bigger picture horse breeding interests, envious owners, trainers and jockeys decided against it.
While I was never a big SJ supporter because I am not a fan of American speed only breeding, after watching the Belmont, I must conclude that this horse is indeed a very special one. It is a shame, though, that the Sevis team did not learn anything from history and other TC horses that went down in defeat like Spectacular Bid not by talent but by tactics: all the comparisons of Smarty Jones to Secretariat did not help either. Stewart Elliott must have thought that he was indeed on Secretariat rather then Spectacular Bid.
Racing had a chance to move to the public spotlight and has yet again failed miserably. A sport needs a champ, and racing doesn’t have one because in the bigger picture horse breeding interests, envious owners, trainers and jockeys decided against it.