One of the greatest 11.25 length defeats by a filly in history

[the_fat_man]

Originally Posted by The Indomitable DrugS

Instead of opting to concede an easy lead to Rachel Alexandra - which Borel tried to force him to do by floating him out - Johnny V. - no doubt following instructions - decided to go on a suicide mission with Life At Ten. Those two quickly opened up 15 lengths on the rest of the field.

I just watched the race again to reconfirm what I thought I saw during the live running of it. Where exactly does Borel ever urge her to the front? (Maybe ever so slightly out of the gate.) Typically horses on 'suicide missions' are, very visibly, urged. In fact, it's clear in the run to the 1st turn, and in the run around the 2nd turn on the headon, that there's quite a bit of slack on the reins. In other words, Borel is long reining rather than restraining her. So, she was given her head and was going nicely as Borel never made the effort to either urge her or restrain her. She did it all well within herself and just flat out collapsed late.

Looks like they either didn't tie her tongue down or didn't do a good job of it, as she's got it out during the entire running of the race.