Sidebar

[jocko699]

Originally Posted by Robert Fischer

I thought it was pretty hard pace, but not amazing. Meantime is a good horse, in spite of sweating out pre-race, and eventually stopping. Meantime did pressure Irish War Cry a bit.

Between Meantime and the guys like Ortiz on Tapwrit waiting for an opportunity to present itself like a perfect predator, Maragh eventually passed the point of no return.
I don't think the cowboy antics of the loose horse affected the pace or entered Maragh's peripheral vision.

Eventually, Irish War Cry was tiring on the far turn, and I think Maragh wisely opted for taking tactical position and assuring an top-2 finish, rather than trying to 'save' horse and kick away from bunching-up rivals.

That was a race (both generally and specific) where unless everything up front is absolutely stopping, you have to be contending on the far turn, or by the time you enter the stretch you notice that your stalking position was an optical illusion.

Tapit had a more comfortable trip, and was just as good as Irish War Cry.

I can't fault Maragh and split hairs. He did about as well as expected.

Well said!