If you look at the pace figures and his PPs, Smith rode him much more aggressively in the LADerby than he did in the Risen Star. could be that he was making his own adjustment to what he thought was a speed-favoring track and was trying to do what he could to win the race, even if it wasn't the horse's best style. (Or maybe the connections told him to, who knows).

I think a return to relaxation in the beginning of the race could spell a return to a zero like effort again, which hopefully would also translate to better response in the lane and a more fluid motion/lead change. Not sure if he is good enough to win regardless, but do like his race running down a speed horse (that was running something close to a 0 himself) from the back of the field. It's one of the only performances like that we've seen so far on the Derby Trail (the Wood too, of course), closing from far back to win a race.