chances mike smith off in the belmont

[Linny]

Originally Posted by Kasept

It wasn't necessarily an afterthought... Nafzger called his mentor John Nerud after the Preakness loss and asked John if should run in the Belmont. Nerud asked him what he wanted as a target the rest of the year. Nafzger's goal once the Triple Crown was unattainable was the Travers and Breeders' Cup Classic. Nerud told him to skip the Belmont in that case.

The difference may be that SS was a.) not sound and b.) a colt, with a stud value to protect. It looks like MTB will be Belmont bound and I cannot see RA running back.

[10 pnt move up]

Originally Posted by Linny

The difference may be that SS was a.) not sound and b.) a colt, with a stud value to protect. It looks like MTB will be Belmont bound and I cannot see RA running back.

I dont think her owner can pass up the chance to be in the spot light, he craves this I believe.

[pointman]

I would guess that Rachel Alexandra does not run back and that Mine That Bird does. As a gelding and in the form that he is in right now, I would think they would take a shot at the Belmont and then lay him off for a couple of months. I am not a big Smith fan, but I didn't see anything wrong with his ride today, he just got beat by a better horse at 1 3/16 miles today.

[CSC]

Originally Posted by pointman

I am not a big Smith fan, but I didn't see anything wrong with his ride today, he just got beat by a better horse at 1 3/16 miles today.

I agree with this assessment, nothing wrong with the ride. Really it was quite straight fwd, from the 2 post take him back to last, save as much ground as you can, make one run and finish well. A great ride was Borel's ride in the derby, I don't agree that Smith did anything extraordinary to win the race today, it was a good ride, if he didn't check MTB at the top of the stretch and found a way to save just a little more ground he may have even gotten into the photo with RA, then it may have been a great ride.

[largo1]

I can see the connections taking Mike Smith off if Borel is available. But if RA goes to the Belmont, I don't see why they'd take him off. He did a pretty decent job today. I was actually really surprised when they first announced he was their second choice if they couldn't have Borel. MTB really thrived under that classic Calvin Bo-Rail ride in the Derby. Now, I LIKE Mike Smith,,,, but he seems like the complete opposite of Calvin. They're just lucky he didn't take The Mike Smith Path to the wire! Or maybe that's just a Derby thing for him?