Beyer's obit on WE

[karlskorner]

www.geocities.com/nywagering

Scroll down to Wagering news outside nY

7th article

[justin]

We'll never know if he would've won without the stumble, but some of the comments in the article are simply moronic.

Great horses win despite adversity and War Emblem hasn't done that. Okay...so I guess the monster pace in the Preakness doesn't count as adversity. It was fast enough to make Medaglia D'Oro totally quit and run up the track...and he ran a close second in the Belmont.

War Emblem seemed relaxed?!? What race was he watching?!? You'd think he gave WE one of the greatest rides in the history of the Belmont going by his comments. I'm not blaming everything on Espinoza, but he did NOTHING to give WE a winning shot. If he thought the horse was injured and that was the reason for strangling the horse, he should have simply pulled him up. Since he didn't, I have no choice but to believe that he has learned absolutely nothing about riding this horse. Hopefully, they'll put a jockey with a brain on his back for his future races.

I'll leave it at that for now as I am still bummed about Saturday and don't want to let idiot sports writers throw any more salt in the wound. Maybe if this horse wins the Travers and BC Classic, they'll change their tune...but probably not.


-Justin

[Tuffmug]

Baffert did not blame loss on Espinoza. Says we HOLDS BREATH WHEN BEHIND HORSES!
Track very heavy and slow and tired horses got tired! Fresh horses came in 1-2-3! Medaglia Doro race in Preakness was a workout race by Frankel to get him ready for Belmont.

[ceejay]

It seems that War Emblem has had trouble getting respect from the media. I thought that 6/5 win odds was a pretty generous price in the Belmont. He's my early pick (assuming he starts) to win the BC Classic.

[Observer]

Baffert has been the one saying this horse doesn't like to be behind horses, and they're not going to try to change his style. So, then why was it when the river parted going into the clubhouse turn, and Espinoza had the perfect opportunity to let War Emblem drop his head and go on with it a little to get right alongside Wiseman's Ferry, he opted to strangle the horse back behind both Wiseman's Ferry and Medaglia d'Oro? War Emblem's natural speed got him to a good spot without a need to be rushed or hustled. It was at this point Espinoza began pulling on his face and backed him out of what could have been a cozy spot, though between horses. That would seem to make for better positioning than sitting behind and getting dirt kicked in the face.

Sure, Espinoza has to make a split-second decision, but that's his job. To fight against a horse that has put himself into a position to overcome a poor start, as War Emblem did in the opening furlong, is just wrong. Maybe the outcome would not have been different, but maybe War Emblem had his chance to overcome adversity taken away by Espinoza heading into that clubhouse turn. We'll never know, and I'm not going to let what Baffert says make my decision for me on this one. I know what I saw.

Yes, the stumble was costly, but the events immediately following War Emblem regaining his feet did not go to make the best of a bad situation. It only made them worse.

For a perfect example on how to make the best of a poor start, watch Mike Smith's ride on Proud Citizen in the Lexington. Proud Citizen got off a beat slow, but Smith let the horse recover, and by the time they hit the first turn, the horse had comfortably gotten to the lead without being rushed or hustled, then cruised all the way around, with enough to hold off the challenges made on the far turn and in the stretch.

[delayjf]

I'm not yet convinced that WE was that compromised by not being on the lead. My experience tells me that when horses are adverse to being behind other horses, they simply don't run at all.
But WE did make a charge into the lead, he simply could not go with MO when asked. I think his inability to relax may have hurt him more than being behind horses.

[anotherdave]

He did have the lead on the rail in the backstretch. Why did he stop so badly?

AD

[cj]

IMO, he was exhausted from fighting the jockey the whole way. We'll never know if he could have gotten 1 1/2 miles, I have my doubts, but pure E types like War Emblem usually back up pretty bad when they don't make the lead, don't know why the Belmont Stakes would be any different. To be honest, it doesn't matter, because they will never run that far again!

CJ