Gio Ponti

[CincyHorseplayer]

Didn't see any threads about this guy other than the one that degenerated into a mess!So..

He ran a hell of a race.The last 3 races on the turf at the 1st--2nd call were;

5/3--5/3
0--0
0--0

The turf after the heat wave was playing pretty fast.That they ran 52,1:18,and 1:42 spelled doom IMO for most closers.And even though the field wasn't spectacular the move GP put on was solid.

Anyway I'm just glad to see him back.I thought the connections were overly ambitious with him and plain nuts.It can be justified by purse levels I guess,but I disagree.They finally had found his niche and he reeled off 4 G1 wins on turf and they go berserk racing him everywhere but where he shined.As a player and a fan it frustrated me to see.So I was glad as hell to see him win yesterday.

[cj]

I don't know if I would call it a hell of a race...it was a paid workout with no competition. The jockey was almost foolish enough to get him beat.

[OTM Al]

Originally Posted by cj

I don't know if I would call it a hell of a race...it was a paid workout with no competition. The jockey was almost foolish enough to get him beat.

Got to agree, great ride by the jock on the longshot that nearly wired and a terrible job by Gio Ponti's jock. Never should have been close.

[slew101]

That's one area of Ramons riding I've never liked. In that spot, he had plenty of time/room to just go wide and run the field down. Instead, he splits horses and has to wait a couple seconds. Just no need in a small field with the best horse to take a chance like that. But in turf races, he seems to do that a lot.

Originally Posted by OTM Al

Got to agree, great ride by the jock on the longshot that nearly wired and a terrible job by Gio Ponti's jock. Never should have been close.

[CincyHorseplayer]

Originally Posted by cj

I don't know if I would call it a hell of a race...it was a paid workout with no competition. The jockey was almost foolish enough to get him beat.

I agree.I thought the ride was dumb after seeing a wire job in an earlier turf race.The track wasn't in his favor.The ride wasn't in his favor.The pace wasn't in his favor.And he still won.I acknowledged the poor field but with all that happened I think it was a good race out of him.Beyond that I just enjoyed seeing him where he belonged=on the turf.

[GaryG]

His final 3/8 was right around :33. He overcame an absolutely bonehead ride.

[joanied]

Agree with all that's been said...horrible ride, I had a heart attack when he was stopped...poor Durkin tried to make it exciting during the call...it was sooooooo sloooooow it about put me to sleep until they got to the top of the stretch...but I am also very happy to see Gio regain his luster...man, if it ain't broke...yadda, yadda, yadda!!
He prooved how good he is on turf...because he overcame a lot to get the win

[Kimsus]

What was wrong with Ramon's ride, Gio Ponti is a closer, Ramon read the race correctly, this wasn't The Tin Man on the lead, it was a former claimer...what did you expect him to do take a stone cold closer to the lead?