Re: Sword Dancer: ? for the board (963 Views)
Posted by:
TempletonPeck (IP Logged)
Date: August 30, 2016 02:05PM
I agree that a person can be influenced by their bets when comes the time to decide a case like this, so in the interest of full disclosure: I didn't bet a thin dime on the race.
As far as criticizing one ride or rider without criticizing the other, that's easy, watch:
Velazquez is a moron.
Gryder is a cheat.
I could print those sentences together, or not, and be right or wrong about either or both without any dependence on the other.
Johnny V may have ridden the race in a way that you felt did more to compromise Flintshire's chances than maximize his own, and you may even be right about that. That doesn't mean he cheated, it means he's stupid (or at least, that he made a poor decision on how to ride his horse).
Regardless of what Velazquez did though, Gryder (and this was very clearly visible, as others have pointed out) took an action specifically to maximize the chances of another horse winning without regard to his own chances.
The difference is intent. One may have intended to increase his own chances by decreasing the chances of another while hoping not to cause a corresponding decrease in his own chances, while the other never intended to attempt to win the race, only to maximize the chances of another winning.