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View Full Version : Suffolk Downs Jockey's on their big day


Imriledup
09-20-2008, 04:44 PM
I never follow Suffolk, but TVG is ramming them down my throat today, so i'm watching their races.

Explain this to me, because i really don't know Suffolk at all.

In the 7th race, there was an even money shot named hollywood Left. I handicapped the race knowing that this experienced turf sprinter would get away 2nd on the inside behind the frontrunner, who was Hold On Smokey. Well, that never happened. The jock of Hollywood Left, Pedro Cotto, rode this horse as if it was his first lifetime ride. He was not aggressive and never put this horse into the race, despite him being a stickout on paper. He let himself get shuffled back and was never a factor. Maybe he didn't realize this was a 5F race and he has to be all out from the beginning? In this horses' last 5 starts, he broke on top in 4 of them. You would think that a good gate horse such as this would be right into stride and into the bit and right up there with the front flight, no?

Then, in the very next race, which was the 8th race, there was a very 'curious' ride on the #8 horse Lucky You. Now, i don't profess to be an expert on Suffolk, but this horse's last 5 Beyer figs were 81, 72, 58, 71 and 67. There were multiple horses in the race with beyers in the 90s. The even money favorite had back to back 97s, other contenders had high 80s and low 90s just for fun. So, what does Orlando Bocachica do? He sends Lucky You 5 wide. This was a 6 horse field. He never thought to take back and try to slide up the inside to get a minor check, no, he sent her packed out 5 lanes wide on the turn and yep, you guessed it, he finished 5th in a field of 6 (the horse who finished 6th was a 6k claimer).

Am i too hard on Young Orlando? He rode this horse as if she was a 3-5 shot and not as if she was a hopeless 15-1 shot who was badly outclassed.

Is this the order of the day at Suffolk? Is this what i can expect in every race at this place today?

Zman179
09-20-2008, 09:27 PM
Is this the order of the day at Suffolk? Is this what i can expect in every race at this place today?

Think about this: Suffolk Downs is a very nice place to spend the day, but they have the worst horses and the lowest purses on the East Coast. Their jockey colony reflects that. To see a jockey come off the turn nine wide in a six horse field isn't as uncommon there as you'd think.

LynnLynn
09-21-2008, 12:29 AM
Is this the order of the day at Suffolk? Is this what i can expect in every race at this place today?

Pedro Cotto doesn't ride regularly at Suffolk. He was in town for the MassCap mount on Cuba.

Bocachica is currently the leading rider at Suffolk. The horse was 12-1 morning line and taking a pretty big jump up in class. I wouldn't crush him for that.

Besides, he brought home a $28.80 horse in the last race! And of course with the kind of luck I was having today, we had already left by then! :D

Steve 'StatMan'
09-21-2008, 12:36 AM
I haven't watched a lot of SUF races this season, but in some recent seasons, I was surprised by how often (when I did watch) most of the field would race well wide - some days most of the fields would be be at least 3-4 wide at a minimum, with the winners often even wider.

Hopefully others who know more than I do about Suffolk can tell us more.

LottaKash
09-21-2008, 01:01 AM
Betting at Suffolk is a crime....So don't do the crime if you can't do the time....:D

Tom
09-21-2008, 01:39 AM
FL used to have that - wide every race. The track was bad inside - it drained inwards and got very deep and most jocks were avoiding the inside 4-5 paths.
Maybe Suf has some track issues.

jotb
09-21-2008, 07:38 AM
I never follow Suffolk, but TVG is ramming them down my throat today, so i'm watching their races.

Explain this to me, because i really don't know Suffolk at all.

In the 7th race, there was an even money shot named hollywood Left. I handicapped the race knowing that this experienced turf sprinter would get away 2nd on the inside behind the frontrunner, who was Hold On Smokey. Well, that never happened. The jock of Hollywood Left, Pedro Cotto, rode this horse as if it was his first lifetime ride. He was not aggressive and never put this horse into the race, despite him being a stickout on paper. He let himself get shuffled back and was never a factor. Maybe he didn't realize this was a 5F race and he has to be all out from the beginning? In this horses' last 5 starts, he broke on top in 4 of them. You would think that a good gate horse such as this would be right into stride and into the bit and right up there with the front flight, no?

Then, in the very next race, which was the 8th race, there was a very 'curious' ride on the #8 horse Lucky You. Now, i don't profess to be an expert on Suffolk, but this horse's last 5 Beyer figs were 81, 72, 58, 71 and 67. There were multiple horses in the race with beyers in the 90s. The even money favorite had back to back 97s, other contenders had high 80s and low 90s just for fun. So, what does Orlando Bocachica do? He sends Lucky You 5 wide. This was a 6 horse field. He never thought to take back and try to slide up the inside to get a minor check, no, he sent her packed out 5 lanes wide on the turn and yep, you guessed it, he finished 5th in a field of 6 (the horse who finished 6th was a 6k claimer).

Am i too hard on Young Orlando? He rode this horse as if she was a 3-5 shot and not as if she was a hopeless 15-1 shot who was badly outclassed.

Is this the order of the day at Suffolk? Is this what i can expect in every race at this place today?


You are hard on Orlando. Why do you or any other handicapper assume a jockey gets to ride his own race? The trainer reads the program and provides the jockey with a set of instructions. Should the jockey not ride to those instructions? He better follow instructions, if he wants to ride the horse back. A big problem with many of these trainers is, they can't read the program. Many trainers upgrade their horses just because they think their horse is doing good. I think sometimes they don't pay attention to the rest of the field. I deal with many trainers and, if I had a nickle for every time they said " our horse will win today", I would have a few extra dollars. Some trainers just need to be realistic about their chances in todays race. I can't tell you how many times jockeys follow instructions to the T and still don't get the mount back. They run right back to the owner and blame the jock making up some story that the jockey didn't ride the horse to their instructions. If it's not the jocks fault the trainer will fill the owners head with some type of excuse why the horse didn't fire. Hopefully for the trainer, the owner buys the excuse so that the horse will remain in the trainers care for another shot with the horse. I don't know too many trainers that want to lose that day rate.

Joe