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Originally Posted by Hoisttheflag
I loved that horse too but he wasn't a closer, more of a push button horse. A closer is a horse like Steppenwolfer. AA had good tactical speed. The best closers are usually turf horses because that is where being a closer pays off.
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I would definitely have considered Alex a closer. He sat way too far back in all of his great (Preakness/Belmont Stakes)races to have been considered a stalker.
"And Afleet Alex is still lingering at the back of the pack..."-Tom Durkin 2005 Belmont Stakes at the 3/4ths pole.
Alex didn't begin to move up in that race until they entered the far turn. Jeremy Rose rode Alex so perfectly that day...
When Jeremy tried to make a middle move in the Derby, Alex didn't have enough left at the end to get by Closing Arguement and hold off Giacomo. The only reason Alex won the Arkansas Derby like he did with a middle move was because he was a superior animal and the distance was shorter.
Like I said, Ritchey and Rose figured Alex out by the time the Preakness and Belmont came around, and realized that they needed to sit him way back off the pace. His greatest performances came then.