Quote:
|
He explained it perfectly and emphasized several times that in that situation, his horse was going easy and felt good. We have to realize that in order to let Justify cross over to the rail, he would have had to take a stern hold on his horse and if you think he got criticized for this ride, imagine if he takes a choke hold of Good Magic and strangles him back. He actually said that he started to take a hold but the pace just wasn't fast enough.
|
But the pace was fast and Bravazo, who broke sharply and ranged up on Justify's outside in the first several yards, was taken a hold of through the first turn and had no trouble settling nicely into a stalking position.
Ortiz certainly had a tougher job than Saez on Bravazo to get his mount to settle from the inside, and Quip--who also was up close briefly and elected to take back--may have sealed his fate by opening up the inside completely. However, it wasn't a crush of horses into the first turn as it was in the Derby, and conceivably he could have taken a sharp hold and flanked Bravazo down the backstretch instead locking horns with Justify on the front end.
From there, if his other races are any indication, I think Good Magic would have more of a rally on the far turn than either Bravazo or Tenfold, who were left in the dust and only rallied in mid stretch when Justify (and Good Magic) began to tire.
Of course, Justify--if Smith had been able to slow down the pace (not necessarily a given)--probably would have had more in reserve and we might have got a carbon copy of the final quarter of the Kentucky Derby. But at least Good Magic would have taken his shot at the appropriate point in the race (about a 1/4 mile out) and not tried some herculean effort from first turn onwards.
I would go even further and suggest that had Good Magic worked out the appropriate trip and still come up a bit short in the Preakness, there would be at least a sliver of a chance that Chad Brown would change his mind and try the Belmont. Now, after that gut busting effort, there is no chance of that.
