Sure there are excuses. He got beat by an older more experienced warrior who this man (meaning me) thought would not be ready. Note to self: His trainer can get horses ready off a layoff.

He ran as well as he could given the circumstances. If Invasor was not there some would have him as Secretariat. Looking back, how was Javier supposed to know. Every race had been a cake walk after a move like he made. The field crumbled. This was a very different field. Full of good horses. I would not call it as deep as some of the prior years, but for an inexperienced (experienced in short mediocre fields) 3 year old to almost pull it off... a very nice run.