hey all

I very rarely weigh in on these debates (on this board or anywhere else) because one's views are understandably influenced by how one played the race and passions tend to run so high on these issues but...


....to criticize how Gryder rode the race without criticizing how Johnny V rode the race is a tough one for me.

Johnny V. race rode Flintshire from the first steps out of the gate. He was trying to box him in down the backside and prevent him from getting outside in the clear until the far turn by which time Flintshire was hopelessly buried inside (so Johnny race rode very effectively)

Now, to anyone who wants to say race riding is different than what Gryder did, I would highlight that this strategy did not give his horse the best chance to win the race. There was no reasonable expectation that he was going to win this race by staying back next to him early and matching turn of foot with Flintshire late and he knows this. His only chance would have been to get first run on Flintshire and open up a big lead on him at the top of the stretch to see if he could force Flintshire to move early. By boxing him in as long as he did, he absolutely compromised his chances for whatever reason he choose to go after Flintshire. Anyone who watched the NBC telecast heard Chad call this point out immediately after the race.

As an aside, I fully agree with Steve Byk's and JB's points that rabbits should run as a coupled entry but either way, to only focus on the Gryder ride and not the Johnny V ride isn't looking at the whole picture in this one

full disclosure as to my bias is that my only play in the race was singling Flintshire in the pick 6 and pick 4.