It is more of Porter searching for an excuse for his horse and trainer. Every time that camp opens up their mouths, it smells more and more like dog$hit. Sure Pino's move was a bit early, but his horse was full of run and wanted to throw Pino off his back for the stranglehold. The jock change is a joke. I have absolute, no respect for Porter. King of Cars is the King of Excuses. I'm from his region so it must be a strong distaste I have for this crumb, for me to bash him like this. Has it ever occured to him that his horses running style best fits shorter races and not the classic distances against serious stretch runners??

Garret ZGomez is now God
 

I guess the concensus around the racing world is that Garret Gomez is so good he would win most races on any horse that he decides to ride.

NC Tony

that pretty much sums it up...

Well the bottom line is he gave the horse a good ride in the Derby, but let's face it, that ride in the Preakness cost Hard Spun any chance of winning, how can we say he was distance challenged when he never got a chance to show he could run, that the horse held on for third after that Jamie Spencer like move is a testament to his grittiness, he may not be in the league of Curlin or Street Sense, but he had no chance to prove it in the Preakness, now they move on to a quirkier track like Belmont where experience is huge and they get one of the best money riders in the game to ride the horse and get criticized, to me it's a no-brainer. The connections have an obligation to the horse, not the riders. Mario Pino choked in his own back yard, the connections lost confidence in him. It's the name of the game, if he were my horse in the exact situation, I get Gomez in a heartbeat.

So what is Gomez going to do. Overate a free running horse. I still don't see anything wrong in Pinos' ride in the Preakness.
Sure it looked like he moved to soon. But the plain fact is that this is a colt who was rattling off 1/4s in 23, and when he went by the front runners, that's what he did, a 23. At no point did he change his hold on HS. He "did not" move to soon. The naturally ability of HS took him by those front runners easily imo. Remember, this is a colt who ran his last 1/2 in the Derby in over 51 seconds. I think trainer Jones has his work cut out for him in the ensuing weeks. He has to somehow alter that high cruising speed hat HS has become accustomed to. And only then will a jockey change make a difference imo..

But see, I don't see it as a jock issue....he made the move because he had a decision to make and after he made it, Prado put some heat on him....I think this is a combination of a couple of things...one of which is a mediocre at best training job.....this horse has done what he has done in spite of the connections....jmo

Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a winner........totally agree...

He would have ran third in the Preakness regardless of his ride. He made the right move in that race. Try to get a jump on Curlin and Hardspun because you know you cant beat either if you sit back and wait for them to come to you.

Gomez is a real strong finisher,he may be able to snag a 4th in the Belmont if he rides the hair off Hardspun.

You're probably right if there is no condition change in the race....I think that the problem isn't with Pino...c'mon this guy has been riding for 20+ years, won 6,000 races, so I think he probably knows what he's doing....I think it's a combination of the front runners coming back to the field quickly, Prado forcing the issue to his outside, and the horses inability to rate.....again, I go back to all the comments Jones has made about his high cruising speed....Pino used that speed to get Hard Spun out of a potential jam, but in doing so, allowed Prado to force the issue and the result was he was out of gas at the sixteeth pole...I just don't think Pino is the blame here.