John Mckee/Lukas/Westwon
 

Not many jocks are built as well as this guy; he's small, can eat what he wants, and gets a ton of live mounts. He's one of the worst riders I've ever seen, a complete joke. The ride he gave Westwon today made me want to vomit. Not only did he try to force the horse on a pace he couldn't make, he got the horse bounced off the rail, losing action, and everything else. You would think this pinhead would realize its someone's $600k investment and wrap up after he had no chance. Not Mckee, he decided to continue to ride the horse to the finish after he ran into the rail at 30mph, good idea. What a complete fool he is, and what a foolish move it was by Lukas to ride him. Not only was it a bad idea to ride Mckee, it was a bad idea to start a horse off a long layoff, in a sprint stake, when the horse isn't a sprinter.

Just when I thought Lukas was doing the right thing by a horse he spots one like the condition book was written in braille

Westwon, I hope he came out of the race okay. He had to hurt himself hitting the rail that hard.

It was a mystifying ride. I have never liked that guy as a rider, but I watched the race with no idea who was riding, and only paid attention to the horse because you had mentioned him here. It was just idiotic. In watching the replay it was obvious that the horse had plenty of room to come off the inside when they came into the stretch, and the two in front of him had seperated so there was plenty of room to split, yet he was banging away righty and pretty much drove the poor horse into the rail.

It really was absurd.

Hes simply one of the worst jockeys I have ever seen. I knew the horse was in trouble, however I didnt think his life was in jeopardy. I mean anyone with a little sense would have just taken the horse outside and let him get something out of the race. Hes off a long layoff, hes not a sprinter, and hes huge, I mean hes about 17 hands. Just a horrible spot to run that horse, and a worse ride. BRUTAL

I imagine that is the last time Wayne rides him on that horse...or perhaps any of his horses. It was, as you say, a dangerously bad ride. Almost psychotically dangerous to be honest. It's hard to even imagine what he was thinking.

His ride in the 5th was horrible as well. The guy is a headcase.

yeah I had the 6-7 boxed under the 10-12. Hind sight 20/20. Owners of the horse were my friends Heart Doc a couple years back. They've owned lost of Arky Breeds and now have a farm in Florida.

The chart read couldnt keep pace, lost action midstretch, finished evenly.


The chart should have read....Westwon, was hard ridden to keep pace early, was stuffed into a hole by a bonehead, bounced off the rail repeatedly, almost went down, lost 5 lengths, then was asked to rerally to finish out of the money. Thats exactly what the owners were looking for, trying to get something out of the race. They got something Im sure, probably two swollen ankles, a bruised up ego, and some pinhead saying, "sowwy bossh"

hes no vernon bush.....

Hey guys......at least your horse didn't decide to take a "break" and try to lay down in the gate (Officer Rocket). Trust me, I know your pain w/ the Jock on your horse!!

Hes much worse than Vernon Bush, you cant even compare the two guys. Vernon gets bad horses beat, Mckee gets the best horses beat, over, and over, and over. Its like groundhog day

Hes a liability to himself, the horse, and the other riders

Imagine having this "Jock" as your "go to" rider every race.......oh how I know the PAIN!!

Without Holthus, Mckee, would be lucky to be an 8 percent jock. I dont know why anyone rides him, and I have NO IDEA why Holthus continues to ride him. Right now hes riding for two cryptkeepers, hes due for a wake up call in the near future.

The most amazing thing to me is watching these races unfold....you can see the trouble, its just like driving a car, you know if you go to x spot there is going to be something there. Im sure youve all been in a car and had someone switch lanes on you, saw someone driving erratically and devised a plan to avoid them. Mckee, doesnt have that in him. If he sees that happening he would go into the eye of the storm, probably speed up to get there faster. That is the kind of forethought he has, none. Hes dangerous to himself, his horse, and whatever owner is willing to ride him

Just watched the head on.......at one point he definetly had room to go up the inside once they hit the stretch....but that hole closed too much...he had plenty of room between the leader and the other 2 horses outside to make a move off the rail...might have actually won.....

definetly not a smart ride........I actually used to think he was a pretty damn good jock while he was at River Downs....even when he stepped up to CD.....but he really hasnt turned out to be anything special....just you middle of the road jock who rides ok once in a while ...definetly not a jock you want riding in a big stake race...

WESTWON, you are F-A-I-R-W-E-A-T-H-E-R!!!!!!! Don't CRY because your "Derby" horse got smoked today. I wouldn't say that Holthus and Lukas are "cryptkeepers". Your horse got smoked. Enough already. Cry somewhere else!

Smartyalex

Do you have any grasp of this game at all? I dont think anyone is crying because a horse got beat, I think its pretty fair to say the ride was pure butchery. Im sure there are people in here who have a lot more riding on a horse than a 2 dollar show wager. You do realize that is a 575k auction purchase that John Mckee, propped and bounced off the rail midstretch, right? That wasnt enough though, he then tried to rerally a horse who had no shot to hit the board.

I think you need to watch the race again.....Come back in here if you are sharp enough to realize what a bad ride that was. I dont think you comprehend how brutal that actually was. Nobody is crying about a horse losing, Im worried about people dying, or horses hurting themselves because of incompetence.

Mckee definitely made a bad decision when he decided to go to the inside, but he didn't run the horse into the rail. When Westwon slipped beside the horse, the horse came over into Westwon, and caused Westwon to hit the rail. The horse didn't almost fall either. Of course, you always do run the risk of a horse getting injured when they do anything like Westwon did. Westwon wouldn't have been anywhere close to winning this race regardless of the ride, and I like this horse. I fear that he just isn't as good as I originally thought him to be.

If you want to see a brutal trip in a race that a horse should and would have won, go watch Chocolate Lava's last race.

Are you on drugs?

That horse wasnt supposed to win in that spot, he was supposed to get some foundation. He wasnt supposed to prop, lose action, and be bounced off a rail, I can assure you of that. If you dont think Mckee was the sole reason that horse was in a bad spot you need to go rewatch that race. He rushed him into a bad spot, then continued to be a fool and get ping ponged around, then to top it all of he finishes under a heavy ride for no money.

Look guys, if you dont watch races often, Im sorry. If you do you understand how horrific that was. Im sure anybody who watches races on the steady can recognize that as pure butchery

I said already that Mckee made a bad decision. That is not what I was arguing. What I was arguing was your overexaggeration of how bad the trip actually was.

You said that the horse wasn't in the race to win the race, and McKee rode him out heavily over the wire to give him that foundation. You give a horse foundation by pushing them. So, he most likely did what the connections would have wanted him to do when he rode the horse out at the end of the race like he did.

McKee also didn't force the horse onto a pace that he couldn't make. He rushed the horse up to get a good position, and it wasn't that the horse couldn't keep pace when he settled in behind the horses as to why he fell back. It was that he didn't like the dirt being thrown it his face, started climbing a bit, and fell back as a result.

No, you are wrong. Any connection would have wanted that horse wrapped up after he bounced off the rail and lost action. You dont finish a race after that happens KYR, there is no reason to ride that horse out at that point.

Mckee, didnt know what he was doing, thats the problem. He had no idea what he was going to do, he never does.

That horse wasnt climbing, horses came down and he almost clipped. That would have been the icing on the cake, having him clip heels. Lets go through the ride....Rush, steady, almost clip, try to settle, bounce of the rail, lose action, then finish running. What is good about that ride? Maybe I watched a different race.

Man....how much did you lose on this horse today?

I didnt bet on the horse. hes not supposed to sprint, he had no chance to win in that spot. He was off a layoff, and had a ****** on him. I was just hoping he would get through the race in one piece. I almost considered posting before the race...Can I redboard a bad ride by Mckee? I almost said I hope Mckee doesnt do something stupid like get in trouble and hurt the horse.

THE BID.......enough already. Your "Derby" horse lost. SORRY. Don't think we'll hear Westwon in the same breath as Derby now. If you would like to question my knowledge on the industry, feel free to "PM" me!!!!!:) :) :) :) Nice choice of words.....******

How about I just question you right here. Do you have any idea what you saw today during that race? If its anything short of butchery, you havent got a clue.

I'm done. Keep up the crying, buddy!!! :confused: :confused: :confused:

Agreed that was a terrible ride -- but Lukas isn't exactly setting the world on fire either. He continually sends expensive horses that are poorly prepared into ridiculous spots. Westwon may still prove something but he's less likely under Lukas.

I never thought much of Officer Rocket. Reminds me of the space shuttle -- flies well most of the time but occasionally disintegrates in flight. He last two races coming into this latest debacle were enough cause for concern.

The winner is one to watch particularly if he tries turf or poly. That's a nice horse.

Hey....was a very strange/bad ride...no doubt......but you have loudly let all living species on this planet know about the ride....mission accomplished...

I really haven't been following this horse.....not sure if he is Derby material....but one thing is sure...Lukas will run the poor horse in races where he doesnt belong and most likely burn the horse out....

Just stating the obvious to most racing fans.

Two things seem obvious to me.

1) The ride was bad.
2) So is the horse.

We are talking about the incompetence of the ride, and the incompetence of a few posters to recognize how bad the ride actually was

As far as your opinion on the horse.. you are entitled to your own opinion. Hopefully youll be proven wrong in a few weeks if hes sound enough to run back.

Along the way, there were some close finishes for the barn last weekend, and some troubled trips, most notably the one experienced by Westwon, the seventh-place finisher in the $50,000 Dixieland on Friday. Westwon came into the race off a maiden win at Keeneland.

"I thought Westwon got a really rough trip the other day in the stakes," said Lukas. "That's a nice horse, and I think he'll show that when he goes two turns. He got in trouble two or three times in that race."

Heres the comment from the DRF what a surprise.