Baffert Suggests Gomez Watch Jerry Bailey DVDs

[ManeMediaMogul]

Reported by Jack Shinar at www.bloodhorse.com.

“It was bad luck. It was a bad trip," Baffert said. "You can’t be on the inside on this track. (Gomez) took him back and he was fighting him. It was horrendous; his ride was horrendous. It’s unfortunate. The horse is a good horse. That’s the thing about synthetic. They’re not going to go fast. Keep him up there. He’s so afraid to let this horse run early, and it’s a shame, because that’s not Garrett. I don’t know why. He threw an interception.”

Baffert said he could not say if he would replace Gomez. “I’m not going to talk about that right now," he said. "I cannot believe he rode him that way. It’s ridiculous.”

Asked about the inquiry that followed, in which stewards made no change in the order of finish, Baffert said: “I didn’t really care. When I saw him on the rail, I said, ‘What is he doing?’ He must not have seen Jerry Bailey’s tape. We’re going to buy him some DVDs.”

Gomez was definitely missing his "A" game Saturday as he rode In the Slips like crap too.

[GARY Z]

According to NBC Gomez and Espinoza were involved in a scuffle/fight after the race..

[railjunkie]

One of the all time piss poor rides I have ever seen. This game is tough enough without having to worry about the pinheads who are paid to pilot these animals. I have spoken to owners at great length about the lack of jockey accountability as it is one of my peeves with the game. The bottom line is that if I pulled an unacceptable performance like Gomez did yesterday I would be serving 30 days. This from someone who is supposed to be one of the games premier jockeys? Don't give me the excuse that he had a bad day. These people are paid to perform. BTW, Baffert has a knack of selecting jockeys who sandbag his horses. Anyone remember that pinhead who wrecked the chances of Point Given in the Preakness years ago?

[Kimsus]

A rider saving ground, while having another rider come in on him is termed one of the all time poor piss rides ever seen... as opposed to an 4-5 overland trip? I've heard it all.

[Mineshaft]

Doesnt Gomez ride one for Baffert today in a stakes race?

[Tom]

That was pretty classless thing for Baffert to say.

[Grits]

It was worse for his wife to be railing at a jock. She should've kept her mouth shut and let her husband, the trainer, have his say about the ride.

She's never trained or gotten on the back of the first one!

[Valuist]

I agree it was classless. How many good rides has Gomez given? I'm no fan of riders but there aren't too many better than Gomez.

And like an earlier poster said, how is saving ground such a terrible thing? You had a situation with a lone speed and he wasn't going to get beat under those conditions.

[Relwob Owner]

Originally Posted by Valuist

I agree it was classless. How many good rides has Gomez given? I'm no fan of riders but there aren't too many better than Gomez.

And like an earlier poster said, how is saving ground such a terrible thing? You had a situation with a lone speed and he wasn't going to get beat under those conditions.

On the surface, it may have been classless....however, there is so much behind the scenes that we dont know about.....also, who knows what Baffert's motivation was for doing it. How many times have you seen a sports coach call out a player, the player gets pissed and then produces better results-could have been BB's play here.....

[Relwob Owner]

Originally Posted by Grits

It was worse for his wife to be railing at a jock. She should've kept her mouth shut and let her husband, the trainer, have his say about the ride.

She's never trained or gotten on the back of the first one!

If what was said happened did, I agree with you 200%

[pandy]

Baffert has a history of complaining about riders and also changing riders, sometimes for no apparent reason. I remember when he pulled Mike Smith off a horse who was undefeated in 4 starts, was if Officer? And then the horse got a bad ride and lost in the B.C. It looked to me like Espinoza's horse ran into him.

[Relwob Owner]

Originally Posted by pandy

Baffert has a history of complaining about riders and also changing riders, sometimes for no apparent reason. I remember when he pulled Mike Smith off a horse who was undefeated in 4 starts, was if Officer? And then the horse got a bad ride and lost in the B.C. It looked to me like Espinoza's horse ran into him.

I dont think what Espinoza did or didnt do has anything to do with Baffert's opinion. I think Baffert was more upset because LAL was there in the first place.....

[toussaud]

Originally Posted by pandy

Baffert has a history of complaining about riders and also changing riders, sometimes for no apparent reason. I remember when he pulled Mike Smith off a horse who was undefeated in 4 starts, was if Officer? And then the horse got a bad ride and lost in the B.C. It looked to me like Espinoza's horse ran into him.

Vindication not officer

[Rackon]

Before Baffert ever opened his mouth, I and three other people watching this race live were saying to the TV screen "what the hell is Gomez doin' locked down there on the rail?" And that was before they hit the final turn.

Especially after the horse was squeezed at the start and forced to check in the first turn, going back down on the rail in behind those non-contenders looked like a poor choice to me. You have the class horse in the race. a horse with tactical speed, a long strided horse, and there's a nice horse loose on the front end - you want to keep your horse in position to make his run, even if you have to go a bit wide.

And no I've never ridden in a race and it's been 30 years since I galloped a TB.

But I got eyes.

Gomez is a top jock. Sometimes riders guess right and sometimes they guess wrong. Gomez guessed wrong and made a poor choice in the circumstances, failing to keep the speedy favorite clear and out of trouble. I would say LL had both bad luck and a bad ride yesterday. That's before you throw Espinoza and what he did or didn't do into the equation - Lucky should never have been in that spot to begin with.

If I were Baffert I would be extremely upset too - the horse was perfectly prepared, the top contender, full of run and all that down the drain in less than 2 minutes. It's the final prep before the biggest race of the horse's life, and you want something that's going to move him forward, at least a decent trip even if he doesn't win. They didn't even come close. I'm amazed that the horse could recover enough to get third - this is a classy animal no doubt.

It was not classy for Mrs. B to accuse the jock in public, but I think that tells you how absolutely upset the connections were.

[senortout]

I believe they were looking past this one race a bit. All things considered, a bit more racing luck and they woulda won it. Important thing right now is the way Lucky handles ANY SORT of kickback, dirt or syn. He will more than likely have to eat a bit more of it the first Saturday in May.

Yes, GG will ride the horse in the Big One. Blowing smoke is all Baffert was doing. The tactics were probably discussed before the gates opened.

Just my opinion.

senortout