Props To Mike Smith
 

Right after the race he mans up and says it was my fault. Chip Wooley always seems to be a cool cat as well.

They came home in 14, to me the horse sucks. I hope he gets bet off the comments in the Travers.

Maybe Big Drama just is a sprinter, that was an easy lead on a speed track, that is pretty weak

guess the questions of why Calvin got off etc will cease. Borail turns out to be the smartest of the bunch.

Got to agree although letening to him and seeing him well up at a drop of a coin a little disconcerning. I bet he's a great poker player.

This horse needs a very patient rider.I think these guys are just moving way too early with MTB.He needs the most patient jockey in the biz right now,Mr.Ramon Dominguez.He'd get him home in time!

He's a stand up guy. That's for sure. In this case, however, I don't think fault played a role in MTB's loss; MTB just wasn't good enough today. He simply couldn't match strides with the winner and is looking like a horse who needs the table set for him.

I don't see how. It's not like Warrior's Reward did anything special today. Out of the two going forward to the Travers, I'd take MTB.

Maybe they ought to be looking at buying a rabbit for MTB.

Interesting comment from Left Bank regarding RD, also the rabbit part, in truth MTB resembles Better Talk Now in many ways, I would say it wasn't coincidental that only when he got the right rider that he started winning all those grade 1's, he had Douglas and Prado among others on him and none were able to get as much out of him then RD. Shake the Bank deserves only a smigeon of that credit as he set up the race for other horses as well as BTN.

Im still think Warriors Reward is really good. Calvin realized that early on.

it would have been better had he not had to apologize.

I'll still take Calvin and his mount that day!

He moved way too early. He was moving on the backside. With him you can't do that and expect him to have juice in the stretch. Patience and he wins.

I think he should. Calvin's ride at Belmont proves that he certainly isn't the brightest bulb on the string. He has a good agent who must direct his every move.

He didnt have much choice from what i saw. Big Drama was on the lead, alone and getting weight in a small field. If he doesnt use him at all, big drama probably gets out by 15-20 lengths all alone on a track favoring speed with a stretch that isnt exactly Churchill downs.

Besides, the winner started at the same time and was simply able to sustain his drive longer.

i agree with Hurricane Frank to a degree.

what i meant was that he should have ridden the horse correctly- not that he shouldn't have owned up to making a mistake.

He did ride the horse correctly. There's not a single person alive that would have thought going into that far turn that Big Drama was going to come back to them the way he did. Smith had to go at the point that he did in order to give himself any chance. The fact that the horse didn't have enough to get the job done doesn't mean that Smith didn't move at the right time with him.

i think he started pushing him too soon-no horse can sustain a long drive. BUT, you'd think he could have won anyhow, considering who did win.

exactly, thats the point, even with having to move to early once they started walking home he should have jogged on by....but for the next month they can say its the ride, I hope he sucks lots of money in the Travers.

I thought he rode the right race. He's a good guy who it seems would take the blame for something like that, but he moves then and loses and it's his fault...he waits and Drama doesn't come back, or Soul Warrior gets the jump and he's a few strides too late, and then it's his fault for letting them get away.

He was in a no-win situation, and I think he made the right call.

What about the horse that won the race? Where did he start making his move? I thought Smith went when he had to. If he waits a little longer and comes up a 1/2 length short, people would say that he waited too long. I thought it was timed right but the horse, coming off the layoff, was a little short and that's what got him beat.

I agree Mike Smith is a stand up guy, one of my favorites but he is just not the right jockey for this horse, If RA doesn't go in the Traver's I would like to see Calvin back on MTB, but Ramon was a nice suggestions as well, but I think with this type of race MTB needs a familar face on board

Not the right jockey because the horse has lost twice while he is aboard? Is it in the realm of possibility that the horse might not have been good enough to win on either of those days? Or is it just easier to say its the jock's fault?

Was it Borel's fault in the Belmont?

i don't think mine that bird can make that kind of move-he loses his closing kick when he has to start closing that far from the finish. it's what got him beat at belmont. it worked well for the winner, but not for him. had smith waited til MTB gets to his sweet spot-he may still have come up short. who knows?
he won once when no one else fired, he's closed a few times since into the money-which is what closers do. i think he's just not that good, as was shown yesterday. he needs everything just right.

Everyone....Lets say he got the perfect trip, all horses should get that benefit

lets say it happened and he won, it still would have been a very poor effort in a slow time and low figure, your supposed to bet that at 4/1 or so in the Travers? No thanks. What if the rider whats another half furlong or so he is going to draw off by 8-10 for a good figure effort? Come on, the kool aid is tasty in here.

considering the jump from his Sunland figure to KD, maybe?

bet away in a month then, I dont see it

Warriors Reward last three races are all toses.

Watching Mike Smith ride MTB is like watching Michael Scott joke around with minorities .

Was it Borel's fault in the Belmont?




Yes

The Dwyer ?

Mike Smith is no Aaron Gryder.

All races he ran except for those that he won are all tosses. He is a much much better horse than all his loses should indicate.


Sarcasm Level: Very High