Quote:
Originally Posted by classhandicapper
I think Shared Belief's bad start had an impact on him. Naturally, my opinions.
1. The track was mildly tilted towards speed that day
2. The only other speed in the race was eliminated at the start and that allowed Bayern to control the pace.
3. Given #1 and #2 you would expect the possibility of a merry-go-ground type race and that's exactly what we got.
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I agree, but the stewards' decision (which I think was correct, because they aren't allowed to "handicap" whether Bayern was the only remaining speed) was based on the notion that trouble at the start is not as important as trouble in the stretch, especially in a long race. That was the discussion I was referring to.
Arrogate's bad start didn't create a new pace scenario in the race, so it was just a matter of a good, tractable horse having to get back into the race and come from behind in a 1 1/4 mile race. Not ideal, but not awful trouble either.
