Ramon Dominguez

[Scav]

I tried counting how many times he changed his mind and then I ran out of numbers. He goes outside he wins by 5-6 lengths, tons of horse and he decides to play "stick me horse here and see if the others let me through"

Just watched the replay. I don't see how a ride like that can be defended.

[-BT-]

It was a short field and he had been making a sustained move on the outside.
Can't imagine why he thought he had to move to the rail

[Hickory Hill Hoff]

Originally Posted by Byebyemermaid

Like i said i didn't see the race,but why is it jocks seem to get into more trouble or make bad decisions in small fields.

It always seems that way, short fields = crazy results. It was a bad ride, but I've seen worst...this horse looks like a plodder anyway. I needed him, BTW had the winner...he's a decent jockey and all the "big" names have bad rides.
The out cry has been big here, but if this was a stakes race in the middle of summer...(ie - last year's Sword Dancer) the "kill the jock" chants would be even louder!

[DCracing]

Originally Posted by blackthroatedwind

If you go to a bar and there are two entrances....one is completely empty and wide open and the other is surrounded by seven drunk and disorderly dudes.....which do you use?

Ramon came to the stretch completely unencumbered, he was clear with two horses in front of him, and ground loss was no longer a question, as the turn was finished. To duck inside cost as much as going outside. He chose to attempt to split horses, which regardless of what ended up happening would have required room, instead of going outside where there were no other horses. Being that he was on the deepest closer in the race I highly doubt he thought anyone was coming from behind him. The simple fact of the matter is that he chose a path of resistance for no good reason and ended up finishing third with a horse that most likely would have won. A rider's job is to stay out of trouble and this rider looked for trouble and found it.

If you think this was a decent ride, while you are entitled to your opinion, I think you are very wrong. This is not an isolated incident for this rider. He constantly looks to do this and sometimes it works out. Often the only way a rider can win is to save ground, be patient, and hope a hole opens. It's all judgement and the better riders usually have better judgement. This rider exercized very poor judgement and most likely cost his horse victory.

Part of doing serious trip handicapping is watching races over and over again and with meticulous care. Since I do this, watching somewhere around 35-40 races daily ( and carefully ) five or six days a week, I believe I have developed a good understanding of how races develop and different rider's habits. Thus I am critical, because I have to be critical of all that I see, as it is part of trying to understand the races as effectively as possible. I am more than happy to discuss differences of opinion about certain races or rides but the constant attacking of posters, instead of topics, makes discussions impossible.

i agree! but we do not have a head on replay - it looks to me like Luzzi started to float out but was stopped by Martin. RD may also have been thinking that this horse has not hit the board when off the rail at this meet...

as much as i love the jocks - especially RD, it's still the horse that does the running and they don't all have FIVE STAR DAYs!

[Scav]

Originally Posted by DCracing

i agree! but we do not have a head on replay - it looks to me like Luzzi started to float out but was stopped by Martin. RD may also have been thinking that this horse has not hit the board when off the rail at this meet...

as much as i love the jocks - especially RD, it's still the horse that does the running and they don't all have FIVE STAR DAYs!

I am not going to post the replay site that has the head-on because the last time we did they took ALL replays away from us. but whoever was the rail looked back and was TRYING to let Dominguez in the hole, and he still didn't go. You can see him look to see if their was room on the rail and then a second later he drifted down and it parted like the Red Sea (or whatever Sea that was)....... I could have won on this horse, but he tried to get cute, and he burned a 3/5..

Congrats to BTW for being "alive in a pick 3" apparently his "serious trip handicapping" may start paying off! BBB

[disappearingdan_akaplaya]

Originally Posted by Kasept

I may very well mention it.. Comes on the heels of the ride on SNS that was 'anxious' and I criticized Monday.. Like I said earlier, I like Dominguez a great deal, but he makes you wonder where his head is on a frequent basis.

And JC.. Considering the horses he gets on a daily basis, Dominguez (and/or Coa too) better be leading Alan Garcia, Channing Hill, Chantal Sutherland, Mike Smith, Eddie Martin, CC Lopez, etc.. No?

you also neglected luzzi in there, i know you dont think hes garbage steve, actually i think luzzi's one of the most underrated riders in the country! ramon was 5th last year in earnings overall and next to russel baze riding in 6 horse fields for holendorfer he had the best% batting a lofty 27%. ramon also went down to gulfstream in the past and did quite well there, hes proven himself everywhere hes went on any type of stage

[Holland Hacker]

I was amazed when I saw that ride in small field, what was he thinking? My favorite RD ride was he he wound up and hit Scrappy T at the top of the stretch in the '05 preakness. I was surprised no one ever commented on that.

[ddthetide]

Originally Posted by 2MinsToPost

This inexperienced set of eyes saw a horse with a nice trip coming around the turn set to take the lead on the outside but instead the jockey slowed momentum, in my opinion, by turning towards the rail and thus slowing down that momentum as well as hampering the horses clear view of the lead, but rather the rear end of another horse.

How did I do, is this close?

i too am still learning and that was a pretty bad ride ! ESPECIALLY after read steve's post this morning, about the instructions that RD got !
i read the threads out of order.

Originally Posted by blackthroatedwind

There is a link to the replay in this thread in Post #8.

Dominguez' ride on Sweetnorthsaint made the horse look like a gutless hanger who couldn't pass wind. When Chatain came up, Saint actally suspended himself for a split second in disbelief and pulled out of the stretch drive. Again, RD had him in tight and the horse freaked.