Eddington/Bailey

[alysheba4]

Originally Posted by miraja2

I certainly agree with you that the whole "Bailey cost Smarty the Triple Crown" argument is a bunch of hot air.
As for who deserves the blame, I'd say Birdstone deserves the most blame....and I'm not just trying to be a smart ass when I say that.

Birdstone was a good colt.

The idea that someone had to screw up (Servis or Elliot) or do something nefarious (Bailey or Solis) in order for Birdstone to beat Smarty that day presupposes that Smarty was actually a much better horse than Birdstone at 10f+ on a dry racetrack. I'm not sure that's the case.
Birdstone certainly couldn't handle a wet surface like Smarty could. But on a dry racetrack, was Smarty really that much better than Birdstone? I'm not so sure. And at the 12f distance, I think its entirely possible that Birdstone was simply the better animal.

....i agree, its the 3 races in 5 weeks......its to tough and that is what will happen the 9th. i think the preakness was EXTRA TOUGH, IHA gave everything he had to get in the winners circle. i am tossing him.

[pmayjr]

What adds fuel to the Bailey accusations, had to do with Wimbledon's injury. That was going to be his Derby mount. After the injury knocked Wimbledon out of the Derby, wasn't it reported that Bailey approached Servis about letting him ride Smarty?

[Merlinsky]

Originally Posted by alysheba4

....i agree, its the 3 races in 5 weeks......its to tough and that is what will happen the 9th. i think the preakness was EXTRA TOUGH, IHA gave everything he had to get in the winners circle. i am tossing him.

What did you do after Smarty won by daylight? Afleet Alex had about as tough a Preakness as you're gonna find and he comes back to take the Belmont. Seems like the ones that win by too much at Pimlico and don't get a gut check in the process have had trouble 3 weeks later.

Originally Posted by pmayjr

What adds fuel to the Bailey accusations, had to do with Wimbledon's injury. That was going to be his Derby mount. After the injury knocked Wimbledon out of the Derby, wasn't it reported that Bailey approached Servis about letting him ride Smarty?

That was my understanding. I'm sure, though, that there are many top prospects that Bailey's agent tried unsuccessfully to get him on. For every Smarty Jones, there are plenty that didn't do squat on the track after all, and we didn't hear about it. They might've thought it was worth it to try to usurp Stewart Elliot's spot because every so often connections decide not to dance with the one they've had up to that point.

[dalakhani]

Hennig was not happy with Bailey's ride and Bailey never rode Eddington again. Bailey actually broke out the stick on the backstretch although he claimed at the time that he just tapped him on the shoulder to wake him up.

Race riding is a part of the sport and it always has been. Obviously, letting Smarty run his race wasn't working out so well. The idea of pressing smarty early with a horse like RHT or Eddington would make sense to me being that they both seemed bigger and better bred to go longer.

If Smarty was good enough, he would have won.

[pointman]

The problem I had with Bailey's ride was that he was riding to beat Smarty, not to win. If I owned Eddington I would have kicked Bailey in the nuts when he got off the horse.

[Revidere]

Originally Posted by dalakhani

Hennig was not happy with Bailey's ride and Bailey never rode Eddington again. Bailey actually broke out the stick on the backstretch although he claimed at the time that he just tapped him on the shoulder to wake him up.

Race riding is a part of the sport and it always has been. Obviously, letting Smarty run his race wasn't working out so well. The idea of pressing smarty early with a horse like RHT or Eddington would make sense to me being that they both seemed bigger and better bred to go longer.

If Smarty was good enough, he would have won.

If I'm not mistaken, Bailey never rode for Hennig again either.