Ron Pierce....LOL

[InsideThePylons-MW]

Su Mac Lad Complete Brain Dead Moment

[LottaKash]

Su Mac Lad Complete Brain Dead Moment

Premature ejaculation I think....Hey, the guy thought he had the horse, not tonite tho....

best,

[badcompany]

Apparently, 1000ft of stretch wasn't enough for Pierce. He wanted to get an early jump.

Generally, you pull the pocket when there's a bad horse in front and you don't want to get boxed in. Obviously, Lucky Jim doesn't fall into that catagory.

Of course, Sears wasn't too bummed about it.

[pandy]

Pierce tried to win, not finish 2nd, keep in mind that this was the FINAL. If you let Lucky Jim go unchallenged you have ZERO chance of beating him. Also, it's not like Pierce was driving a 10 claimer, his horse is a world record holder and one of the best trotters in the world the past few years, he gave his horse a chance to win. This type of trip happens a lot of races where two or three horses tower over the field because the rest of the field can't up and there's no outside flow, so the main contender has to pull to challenge. Legendary harness driver Stig Johansson did the same thing with Victory Tilly at the Meadowlands a few years back, he pulled first over on the final turn in the Breeders Crown and tired to finish 3rd (came back to set a world record next week). In the big races, you play to win, not finish second. Pierce is one of the best big money drivers in the history of the sport.

[InsideThePylons-MW]

I guess you didn't see the early part of the race.

Pierce had already tussled with In Focus the 1st Q.....Lost a few lengths when In Focus made the break.....closed a 5 length gap that happened during the break.

Tough to get the worst of it and then decide to take a lot more the worst of it when it almost has a zero chance of success.

Sometimes you just have to play the hand dealt to you.

For those saying he had to pull because of Arch Nemesis.....Well if that's the case, if Ron sits and Arch comes, then he might go by both after they duel. If Ron flips and somehow wears down Jim, Arch goes by just like he did.

Sitting the pocket gave him a chance to win.....Flipping the pocket gave him no chance to win.

[pandy]

I disagree, lets' not forget that he beat the same horse the week before, so Pierce has to give his horse the benefit of the doubt. He pulled his horse just in case his horse was the best, we're talking about a World Champion trotter here. As it turned out, he didn't have enough horse. It's no big deal anyway, if he sits in he probably finishes 2nd instead of third. Someone has to challenge the favorite, you can't let him steal a race like that, you have to make him earn it. He was trying to win. Yes, the breaker did hurt him, but that's the breaks. You see this same type of strategy all the time in thoroughbred racing. If everyone sat in and waited for the stretch not only would the races be boring but the speed would win too many races.

[InsideThePylons-MW]

I would love to get Brian, Andy and Peter on a lie detector and ask them what they thought about Pierce's drive.

[toetoe]

I'm with Pandy on this one. Staying in the pocket was how Orange Heartbreak got Lucky Jim beaten last time.

My buddy loved Arch Madness because he got a real driver last night, and the clash of the titans was almost enough to get Arch Madness home on top.

[pandy]

You guys may remember the Hambletonian, which for the past 3 years has been won by the favorite who not only went wire to wire but had little challengers, boring Hambos. Of course the main problem is the way they draw the post positions, letting the highest money earner picks its own post, absurd. If anything it should be the other way around, let the lowest money earners take the inside and put the favorites in posts 9 or 10, then maybe you'd have a horse race. Harness racing has forgotten that people gamble and watch races for entertainment, not to be lulled to sleep.

[Trotman]

Pandy is right there was nothing wrong with the drive Pierce gave him, through the lines that's what it felt to him,go for it. More times than not when Ron makes a decission like he did your going for a Kodak Moment.

[mirror Image]

Pierce said tonight on "In The Sulky" that he made a mistake pulling
and he should have stayed in.

[InsideThePylons-MW]

Second hand as I didn't see it but I guess he was interviewed before races at Big M and he said "bad drive" and that he screwed up and should have sat pocket till lane to take his shot but he would have run 2nd and not beat Lucky Jim. Basically I was told he really didn't want to talk about it at all but said that much under Hollywood Heyden duress.

[Trotman]

I have to agree with ITP as well lets not beat this to death, if he said he screwed up, that's good enough for me Time to let it go :ThmbUp:

[badcompany]

You guys may remember the Hambletonian, which for the past 3 years has been won by the favorite who not only went wire to wire but had little challengers, boring Hambos. Of course the main problem is the way they draw the post positions, letting the highest money earner picks its own post, absurd. If anything it should be the other way around, let the lowest money earners take the inside and put the favorites in posts 9 or 10, then maybe you'd have a horse race. Harness racing has forgotten that people gamble and watch races for entertainment, not to be lulled to sleep.

If you remember the 2007 Hambo, the 2nd choice was a "Super Filly" who, at the urging of Tetrick, tried to blow by Donato Hanover, but got laughed at and finished the race up the track and out of the money, not a good thing in a 1.5 million dollar race.

It's a moot point now that Pierce made his admission, but, you just don't want to take air at the Meadowlands against a killer.

[pandy]

That's right I forgot that move Tetrick made, the correct move, someone had to challenge Donato. To suggest that you can't take air and win at the Meadowlands is ridiculous. Remember when Pierce beat Somebeachsomewhere? He used his horse very hard and parked the favorite to a wicked half. If he had decided to save ground and let Somebeachsomewhere waltz on the lead uncontested he does not win the Meadowlands Pace with Art Official, Somebeachsomewhere's only loss in his career. This isn't the 1970s, speed holds and you have to be aggressive. This is an interesting topic, I'm going to write a column on it. I respect all opinions but you can't just sit in and let he favorite romp, someone has to make the horse earn it.

[badcompany]

That's right I forgot that move Tetrick made, the correct move, someone had to challenge Donato.

Yes, I'm sure if you were the owner of the horse and you finished 6th behind two 50-1 shots, in a 1.5 million dollar race, as a 2nd choice, you would've been pleased.

To suggest that you can't take air and win at the Meadowlands is ridiculous.

Read the post again: I said you can't take air against a killer. The stats are horrible at the Meadowlands for any first over horse, much less one going up against a champion.

No one is saying Pierce wasn't trying to win the race. We're questioning his method of doing so. We seem to have a point, considering Pierce himself admitted the mistake.

[Pacingguy]

Pierce said tonight on "In The Sulky" that he made a mistake pulling
and he should have stayed in.

He finished third so of course it was a mistake. If he pulled and won the race, it would have been the right move.

Wish they would just say I took a chance and it just didn't work out.