Gomez Leading Standings at Saratoga But...
 

Garret Gomez is now alone atop the standings at Saratoga with 15 wins. But the funny thing is that he's not riding nearly as well as last year. He's been getting into a lot of trouble. It's not always a jockey's fault when they get into trouble. Sometimes it's just bad luck. Sometimes everything just goes wrong in a race. But over time, the good jockeys get into less trouble than the bad jockeys.

Last year, Gomez had a period of about 6 months straight where he was in the right spot every time and he got a perfect trip every race. He made every right decision and he had some good luck too. He rode as well during that period as any rider I have ever seen. He's definitely not riding nearly as well this year. Just the last two days, he's gotten into more trouble than he got in practically all of last year.

Don't get me wrong. When he's riding his best, I think he's the best jockey in the country. I think he gets more run out of horses than any other rider. He's one of the only riders out there that can actually move a horse up.

And don't believe for a minute that he's not a smart rider. He's as smart of a rider as I've ever seen. He understands horses better than practically any rider out there.

He's definitely my favorite rider and I expect him to continue do very well in New York. He has been a little bit inconsistent lately and has had a buch of troubled trips. Some of them were not his fault but some of them were. Anyway, he can definitely ride much better than he's riding right now. It's a little bit like Tiger Woods. Tiger is so good that he is often leading the money list even when he's not playing his best.

you are right on rupert...go-go seems to run so hot and cold that you don't know what you are going to get from one day to the next. I don't bet him for that reason, even though I think he is a terriffic rider.

Yes, he has definitely blown his fair share this year. But while he may blow one on the best horse, he will come back the next race on the 3rd or 4th best horse and win the race. He can sometimes move a horse up a couple of lengths. I think that is one of the reasons his winning percenatge is still high this year. He may lose a race that he should have won but then he will come back and win a race that he probably shouldn't have won. He has a great gift of getting horses to relax and to settle into the pace that they are most comfortable running at. Every horse has an ideal pace that they want to run at. I think Garret is good at finding that pace.

Now that he's been in New York for a while and he's getting good mounts, I would expect him to start to relax more and I think you will see a big improvement in his riding. He's given plenty of great rides this year but he has been a little bit inconsistent at times. I've seen him at his best and I know that he can ride much better than he's been riding this year. I don't see any reason why he won't start riding his best.

I agree again. I'mhoping that he evens out his highs and lows as he becomes more comfortable...I'm sure though that the first time I bet him or need him I can kiss my money good bye (it's a gift I have)

Didn't we have some bold predictions some time back regarding how bad Gomez would stink up the place at Saratoga? How all the regular east coast riders would do nothing but school him each day? And that when Johnny V came back for Pletcher, Gomez would sink like a stone amongst the leaders?

I vaguely remember a post or two alone these lines.

Yes, you are correct. There were a few posters on here that were saying how poorly Gomez would do in New York and how JV and the others would school him. I told them they were completely wrong. I feel somewhat vindicated since Gomez is leading the standings at Saratoga but I don't feel totally vindicated because I know that Gomez can ride far better than he's been riding. If he starts riding his best, I think he will totally dominate in NY. I want people to see him at his best so they will know how good he really is. When he gets into "the zone", he is absolutely spectacular.

Well no one stays in "the zone" all the time. Even if he's not at his best like you say, he's shown that he's one of the best around. What's funny to me is that I never paid much attention to him until I started reading the posts about how horrible and inconsistent he was. After paying more attention, I began to realize how good he really is.

After the ride he gave in the 9th race today you have a hell of a lot of nerve trying to tell me this guy is anything but stupid. He may be lucky but that will run out, either that or he will head back to rehab. Anyone who wants to see a very sick joke should watch the replay of Gomez' ride on #7 Milwaukee in the Waya today at the Spa. I watched with another Derby trailer and he was even more sickened than I was. By the way, Johnny schooled that junkie very nicely in the last race today!!!:)

Anyone see the ride Edgar Prado gave Shared Dreams in the feature today?
Now that was one of the better rides I have seen this meet. :rolleyes:

http://www.equibase.com/premium/eqbP...&RACE=9&BorP=B

Caution!! before viewing this ride please ask the children and any squeamish adults to leave the room. Anyone who can view this replay should do so only if they don't get nauseous easily.
This one took the cake, I mean I have seen some bad rides in my days, but this one was right up there in the all time top ten bad rides I ever saw.
There is no way this guy has an iq higher than a box of dirt, no way.
Nothing bad enough can happen to this guy as far as I am concerned. If he wasn't on drugs during this ride perhaps he should go back to drugs, it certainly couldn't cause anything worse, thats for sure.

Tim, Edgar is very lucky that Gomez was on the 7. If even a ten pound apprentice had ridden the 7 she would have won under wraps. You absolutely have to see this ride to believe how awful it was, it was so bad that I cannot do it justice with words.

Oh and Prado leads the standings now after a 3 win day today.

Yes, I saw that race. What was unbelievable was that the race was 1 1/2 miles and the horse was in trouble for over 1 3/8 miles. But it had nothing to do with stupidity. No jockey wants to be in tight, checking the entire race. It was just one of those things where everything went wrong. The fact that the filly was a little rank and pilling the whole time had a lot do with it.

Sometimes it's simply bad luck when a jockey gets into trouble. But obviously the bad jockeys tend to get into more trouble than the good jockeys. When you see the same jockey always getting into trouble, you have to think that there is a problem. I'm not sure why Gomez has been getting into so much trouble this year. Last year he always seemed to avoid trouble.

Odds are all jacked up now that everyone is on his jock, I used to score on him when he 1st went to so cal before the problems he had.

He actually seems to ride better on 3/1 to 5/1 shots than he does on heavy chalks. :confused:

Cost Me
 

That race cost me the Pick 4...
Ugghhh

PSH

On a semi-related note, does anyone want to tell me what Prado was doing on Chattahoochee War in today's 8th? Inside, outside, inside, outside.. Let's go Edgar, make a decision.

Rupert thats just an incredibly crazy thing to say. I mean, you really think its just "bad luck" that the horse was in trouble for for a mile and 3/8 but it wasnt the dirty little junkie's fault? It was just bad luck? The sooner that disgusting little junkie goes back to rehab the better off we will all be. You don't EVER see Prado or Velazquez giving a ride like that. That ride should go straight to the hall of fame across the street for worst rides ever by a junkie, oops I meant jockey.

The mare was pretty much rank the entire race. When you have a horse than is rank and pulling in a 12 horse field, you are going to have problems. I'm not going to hold Gomez totally blameless because this type of thing has been happening to him more than it should. When it happens once or twice, it can be bad luck. When it happens over and over again, you start to wonder.

By the way, I don't know if she would have won the race with a clean trip. She flattened out badly and really shortened stride the final 100 yards. I'm not so sure she would have won with a clean trip.

With regard to your contention that Velasquez schooled Gomez in the final race, I strongly disagree. If anything, it was the other way around. JV's horse was running really well on his right lead and striding out nicely. Gomez' horse was was taking these short strides on his left lead and wouldn't switch leads. I was shocked that the race ended up being so close. It was incredible that Gomez kept that horse going so long as badly as the horse was being outrun. I can pick the winner at the 1/8th pole about 90% of the time in these situations. The horse on the right lead will win almost every time in thse situations. When you see one horse taking nice, big strides on their right lead and the other horse is taking short strides on their left lead, the horse on their right lead will win 90% of the times. I don't care if Superman is on the other horse.

Rupert there is no way that Gomez is not a friend of yours because your analysis of a race is usually dead on but in this case you are quite delusional, to the point where I wonder if you actually saw the race.
First of all Milwaukee is a horse that has some speed. She was not "rank". She was overly restrained behind a crawling pace and grabbed to death. She was not allowed to even gallop along at her normal cruising speed. As far as flattening out? Are you mother******* kidding me?!!!!!! After being grabbed to death, choked down, steadying for a mile, and swinging outside and steadying again, she still ran on for third beaten about 2 1/2 lengths. You have to be kidding me. That ride went into my all time top 10 bad rides and I can't even do it justice with words. That was an absolute trainwreck disaster. The Titanic had a better trip than Milwaukee did. Anyone who would even attempt to defend that ride is not seeing things objectively.

thats the best description of a bad ride i have ever read........ " the titanic had a better trip ":eek:

Rupert, I know oracle has made it clear he thinks Gomez is very physically gifted, but not bright-- my question to you, Rupert, is, do you think maybe he is perfectly bright but just doesn't do his homework with the DRF before the races? I know plenty of gifted actors who don't do their prep work before auditions; counting on talent alone to get them through, and I imagine lots of athletes who are extremely physically gifted could be lazy in that way as well.

I remember Jerry Bailey saying he didn't think he was the most talented of jockeys, but that he always, always did his homework before the races. Maybe Gomez is neglecting his homework and it's showing this season? What do you think?

I can't guarantee you that she won't win next time but I certainly will not be betting her. I didn't like the way she was moving the final 100 yards. She was really struggling.

You're wrong to say she wasn't rank. All "rank means" is pulling and hard to control. She was certainly pulling and hard to control. When you're in heavy traffic and your horse is pulling hard, there's not much you can do. He had nowhere to go.

I didnt see the race but I am of the opinion that Garrett Gomez is one of the best riders in the country. He isnt perfect...none of them are and Bailey certainly wasnt either.

Gomez can ride any type of horse on either surface from any part of the track. If Ron Anderson sees fit to manage his book, it must tell you something.

I honestly have no idea how much preparation he does for a race. I think that all of these guys look at the Racing Form before the race. Some guys may spend more time than others. I have no idea how much time Gomez spends reading the Racing Form.

All the good jockeys know that the race may not unfold the way they expect, so all the preparation in the world often times goes out the window once the race starts. I wouldn't want a jockey to decide what he's going to do before the race starts. You will sometimes see a race with a ton of speed horses and the pace ends up being slow. Other times you see a race where it looks like there is not much pace and yet the pace ends up being very fast.

The great jockeys are the ones who are the best at adapting to the race as it unfolds. Let's say that you've got a horse that likes to be 2-3 lengths back when the half-mile is run in :47 and let's say that from looking at the Racing Form it appears that the pace will be somewhere around :47. In that situation, the jockey may expect to be sitting 2-3 lengths back. But if the pace ends up being :46, the really great jockey will realize how fast they are going and will be sitting 7-8 lengths back instead of 2-3 lengths back. If the pace ends up being :48, the really great jockey will be on the lead instead of sitting 2-3 lengths back.

Oh my gosh. This arguement is stupid. The only thing that matters in horse racing is wins and money earned. So instead of trying to analyze rides and how someone prepares for a race and how stupid or smart a jock is lets just look at the jocks standing for wins and money earned.

Edgar and Garrett are 1 and 2 in the jockey standings nation wide when it comes to money earned. Now Johnny V is winning at 26%. If Johnny V wasnt hurt then he prob would be at the top of the standings. But these three jocks are prob the best in the nation right now. So to say that a jock who has earned over $10mm this year and is winning at a 18.8% is stupid then the person calling this jock stupid should take a nice long look in the mirror.

Top 3
John R.
Victor E.
Edgar P.

I don't think anyone who earns his or her way to the top of his or her profession could possibly be stupid; I just thought it was interesting that people have seen more inconsistent riding from Gomez this year and was curious to toss out the "What about prep work?" thought. (I enjoyed RP's response very much, btw, thank you!)

I'm a big believer in luck, but I think luck can be directed to some extent by hard work, too. :) But I don't know any more of Gomez's prep work than anyone else who doesn't know him. Or any other jockey's for that matter.