aftershocks
Banned Member
- Messages
- 17,317
I agree with you, but as we can see and as everyone who is closely a part of the industry knows, things are never that cut-and-dried. The main thing is that WoW was clearly not running well in the Belmont throughout the race. Casse mentioned this fact during the post-race press conference. WoW was plum tuckered out by his efforts in the KD and in The Preakness.
The bumping by Tacitus and pinching by Sir Winston to gain position for the stretch run are both obvious, but not egregious enough to call foul, and did not appreciably or significantly affect the outcome of the race. And sorry, but after Gafflione's rough riding in the KD, during which he bumped Long Range Toddy twice, and got too close in behind Max on his right side w/o enough clearance thus causing WoW to clip Max and it was missed by the stewards, oh well. Ain't karma a b**ch sometimes. WoW was bothered in the Belmont, yes, but he was also tired and not fleet of foot. He wasn't going anywhere in the Belmont -- longest leg of the Triple Crown. Casse and Gafflione both knew it, so calling foul is a moot point. It really would have been rich for Gafflione to be calling foul, tho' anyway.
Let's just be happy, the Belmont was not a 20-horse race, and the contact was not that serious.I still say that jockeys appear to be more aggressive these days (due to higher stakes pressure and nature of the industry). It is a sport, however, in which jockeys are always a hairsbreadth away from catastrophe aboard thousands of pounds of horseflesh. But that's the nature of horse racing. The horses are the best thing about the sport, and often treated the worst routinely. The sport might be called 'of Kings,' but that's the idyllic, rose-colored glasses myth. At bottom, it's a tough, dirty sport, with lots of questionable dealings. Some owners are better than others, just as some trainers are more skilled than others, and/ or of higher character. Mostly, none of us are perfect in this life. We can aspire to be and miss the mark.
Possibly, if Sir Winston had been trained by someone else, Casse and Gafflione may have considered calling for an inquiry, and probably would have decided against it in view of the fact Wow was not wowing in this race.
Plus, the stewards would likely have quickly ruled for the results to stand after reviewing the race. No more drama is needed, especially not in the final triple crown race of the 3-year-old season. 
Sir Winston wins 151st Belmont Stakes
Jockey Joel Rosario rallied Sir Winston in the closing stretch to win the 151st Belmont Stakes on Saturday.
www.usatoday.com
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DP2M7SJ9d9M Casse interviewed briefly after the Belmont about Sir Winston and WoW
For me, the interesting thing is that in the KD when Saez managed to get Max back in his lane, Max slightly bumped a horse coming up on the rail. But that bumping was even less than the bumping WoW received from Tacitus in the Belmont. Still, Max was maligned for that as well, simply because of his earlier weaving out of his lane due to being clipped from behind by WoW. It's extremely fortunate that no horse or rider was severely physically impacted as a result of Max's reaction to what FPratt on Country House and TGafflione on WoW precipitated in the 2019 Kentucky Derby. The race will go down in history with an asterisk next to Country House's name.
Last edited:
