Dedumbeaux's Ride

[ELA]

The jock had nothing to do with the outcome -- period. Too many people bring far too much baggage to the table and one of the byproducts is to blame the jock. Far too convenient and common. It's kind of like "having to find an excuse" so to speak. The other side of the coin is people who have no idea what they are talking about. Being a good handicapper doesn't mean one knows everything about horses, jocks, etc. and all the "other" aspects of the game. People tend to collapse those aspects of the game as well.

As far as pulling him up -- as I've often said, it's really easy to make decisions from the grandstand or from behind a keyboard. I think people are reading far too much into this. It's not that complicated and there isn't a conspiracy behind it. He did it to protect the horse. He did it because he wanted to save face. He did because . . . because because because. If it makes you feel better, go for it.

As opposed to pulling him up, if he would have ridden the horse out -- there would be plenty of people who would be critisizing that move as well. Funny thing -- I am sure a few of them would be the same people who are critisizing the fact that he pulled him up.

Eric