Coincidence is the simultaneous, accidental occurrence of events. When Direct Splash won Xmas eve coincidence was not in the house. Two events most agree on are:

Event 1) Direct Splash had a sudden, dramatic reversal of form.

Event 2) Sylvester Carmouche Jr. was the jockey.

Regarding the former it would take some very creative handicapping to explain his performance. A lifetime effort by 11 Beyer points in his 17th start after three x's!
The race was split (two races carded on the same day with identical conditions) and I estimate thousands of split races were run in North America at six furlongs last year. How many had a time difference of over a full second? I would guess less than a handful.

As for the latter, Mr. Carmouche has had a checkered career, including a ten year ban from the sport for fraud. In 2003, he fell from his mount one morning at Delta and sued a constuction company claiming one of their trucks caused a disturbance. The case was tossed when the company proved they did not have a truck within miles of the track. Having followed Louisiana racing for many years I would label Carmouche as a buzzer jock but that would be opinion. Likewise, I could relate some of the emails I recieved from some Nola people offering past firsthand knowledge, but that would be hearsay.

In conclusion people have their own ideas and thats great. My take is O.J. is guilty, the world is not flat, and he plugged the horse in. Any other explanation contains conclusions laced with naivety and/or highly questionable handicapping. Playing Sunday BBB