Class,

Thanks for the response but I guess you don't understand my question. I am not discussing riding style or pace and the ability to take tactical advantage of a pace advantage. It has nothing to do with pace at all.

i am discussing jockey incompetence and I don't consider incompetence a style. For the purposes of my question, nobody has to agree that Santos is competent. I happen to think he is. Like I said, the worst in the last 15 years of the "name jockeys", is my opinion.

My general question is that we probably each have our views of jockey ability and views on certain jockeys that we may believe have a very low skill level. In cases where the horse you "love" for multiple reasons, is ridden by the jockey you view as incompetent, how do you handle it? The answer can be a few things I guess. 1) Ignore the jockey angle and hope you get a good ride. 2) Skip the race, because you refuse to allow yourself to wager money on an incompetent rider or 3) Demand a higher price to allow for the incompetence.

If you didn't see the race Class, please watch it. I am not one of the "OTB guys" who after every race, blame the jockey for the loss. I blame a jockey about once a month. OFten, factors beyond a jockey's control, make a ride look bad, while it was just bad luck or happenstance. But I have seen the Santos "chokehold" and incompetence many many times. I really can't believe he gets quality mounts.