My take on that ride has always been that Rose gave him a ride that was not bad in a general sense, but it was specifically bad for the horse he was on. Afleet Alex did his best running when he made one big, off-the-pace run, like he did in the Arkansas, the Preakness, and the Belmont.
Especially with the pace that day, Rose probably should have let the horse relax and fall farther back early. Instead, he kept him moving forward into that wicked pace rather early in the race.
To me, that was a bigger reason for his defeat than the decision to take to the rail near the end.
So, SHOULD Afleet Alex have won the Triple Crown? I can certainly see people making that argument, but the bottom line is that his trip in the Derby wasn't awful and if he had been more mulit-dimensional, he probably would have won the race.
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