The Summitt
 

Did anyone else see the 10th race at Turfway yesterday. This is how you know things just aren't going your way:( This horse, after dueling on the rail most of the way, finally gets away and draws off by 5 mid stretch... with the race in the bag, jockey Brian Hernandez decides to hit him left handed, which causes The Summitt to bolt left, nearly hitting the rail.. after getting him back under controll, still well in front, he figures he'll hit him left handed again, and quite surprisingly:rolleyes: , the horse again bolts left, and now he has to take him up completely, which was great news for the guy behind me who now has the winning $2000 superfecta ticket.
Thank you Brian Hernandez!


By the way, the same thing happened to my cold AGS/Helsinki exacta, when Alan Garcia hit Helsinki left handed, causing him to jump 7 paths to the right, costing him 2nd for certain in that race.
We'll call this reverse red-boarding, telling you about my losing tickets after the fact:eek:

I feel your pain about Helsinki. Had the same exacta and probably the same look of disbelieve when he went wide.

When the horse went to the rail after being hit you had to know it was over. The rail at TP is NOT the place to be. You cannot win from the 1-2 post in a sprint as the rail is very deep and tiring. You notice how they all are 3-4 off the rail when turning for home. Not sure I have seen a track so biased to stay off the rail.

Speed and the rail were not good yesterday at TP, which is why I thought I was watching a pretty good 2 yr old, when he shook clear yesterday.. that is until Hernandez started "experimenting".
And yes, it was strange to bolt left when being hit left-handed, but that is exactly what happened. It's as if the horse was shocked by that, and that's why it was all the more ridiculous that he (Hernandez) did it again.

Brian Hernandez Jr. - Forever an apprentice.