Quote:
Originally Posted by cj
Silly talk. About the only thing he could have done better was push harder to get in front a little.
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Yeah, these riders should not apologize for trying to win. If he lets Justify cross over to the inside, sure, Good Magic may have finished second, but he would have had no chance to win and the race would have been boring. Instead, we got a thrilling race with an exciting finish and Good Magic tested Justify. Horseracing, like all sports, and gambling, is a form of entertainment. The horse's and riders put on a good show, and Jose Ortiz made it interesting by being aggressive.
Years ago in a major harness race, a great horseman from Europe, Stig Johansson, came over to race in the Breeders Crown Trot with a great trotter named Victory Tilly. He had a tough post and there was a strong American trotter in the race, Fool's Goal, who drew inside of Victory Tilly. Anyway, Fool's Goal gunned to the lead and Victory Tilly left and tucked second. But then Stig pulled Victory out of the two hole on the final turn and went after Fool's Goal. They battled but Victory Tilly weakened late and finished third. The next week they met again and Victory Tilly got the better post and won and set a world record.
But after the Breeders Crown loss, when talking to the media, Stig Johansson said, "I could have stayed in second and I'm sure we would have finished second. But I didn't come here to finish second. I gave my horse a chance to win."
I'm glad to see most of us agree and understand that Jose tried to win the race.
