Santos is undeniably frustrating at times, but his ride on 17-1 shot PLAY IT OUT on Sunday was Santos at his best. Chartnote:
"PLAY IT OUT was sent from the outside and was quickly clear, was throttled back along the inside on the backstretch, came again inside turning for home, dug in gamely and got the nod after a furious finish."

The guy manhandles his horses, and it's ugly to watch, but sometimes it works. He's at 18% for the Spa meet, and rode similarly strong win percentages at Belmont over the last couple months.

Volponi, from what I understand, is difficult to ride-- doesn't like to be inside horses, doesn't run best on the lead, etc. Probably a bad match for Santos, but like you said, he wasn't going to win anyway.

Given the solid win percentages and often savvy rides (alternating with the frustrating ones), this is NOT the time to be making a conclusive case about Jose Santos's skills-- he's riding better than he has in years.