The Triple Crown that got away from Afleet Alex

[Port Conway Lane]

Originally Posted by 10 pnt move up

hindsight being 20/20 he moved to early. That's why the triple crown is so special, you have to have everything go your way, the horse, etc. He was by far the best of the crop and just got a bit unlucky. I would not blame Rose at all, its just the way it played out.

Closing Argument moved at the same time AA did and ran the best race in that derby.

Hindsight does make it easy to make jockeys the scapegoats. Franklin was deserved but I'm not totally convinced Elliot was and Real Quiet got nipped by a good horse who got a great ride.

[Bogey]

First of all, great timing on this post with the triple crown a couple of days away.

I have to chime in here because I was close to the connections and spent over a week with Afleet Alex at Lone Star in preparation for the 2004 BC Juvy.

On that particular Derby Day (2005), the rail was dead. That last dirt race prior to the Derby was the Humana Distaff in which Madcap Escapade was odds on and looked unbeatable, but she had a rail trip that cost her the race IMO. It looked like she was running in quick sand.

I'm not one to blame jockeys, but Jeremy thought it was his only option at that split second. There's no doubt in my mind that AA was the best that afternoon as well. After the Belmont, Tim Ritchey had plans to run AA in the Travers and he had a future on the lawn. A very special horse that I consider my all time favorite.

I agree with others, the racing gods have to be on your side.

[miraja2]

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.

[slotdirt]

Originally Posted by Bogey

On that particular Derby Day (2005), the rail was dead. That last dirt race prior to the Derby was the Humana Distaff in which Madcap Escapade was odds on and looked unbeatable, but she had a rail trip that cost her the race IMO. It looked like she was running in quick sand.

Ed Zachary.