I bet this horse to win, like I said I would earlier in this thread.
But here is a classic example of why I don't totally blast the riders for what trouble happens during these races.
Some years back, on FOX, the Whitney at Saratoga was covered and Ron Ellis was one of the analysts. As soon as the race was over he wasted zero time raggin' on Jorge Chavez for moving 5 wide on the turn in a race Behrens lost narrowly to Victory Gallop ( correct me if I have the race and either runner's name wrong, this had to be more than 7 years ago now ).
Chavez's only other option was to try to find room between or inside a bunch of longshots everyone knew were going to stop running way before midstretch. One of the other analysts instantly corrected him.
I bring this up because I've noticed on more than one occassion, recently on TVG, the paddock microphone has picked up Ellis giving instructions to his riders.
The common theme among every one of the sessions is Ellis has a huge problem with the idea of being any further than 2 wide on the turns. And a lot of those times he has horses with no post on the inner half of the field and come from no closer than mid pack.
Sometimes, that's just not realistic. A rider with far more years in the game might just go ahead and let the horse do their best running, if he thinks the trainers instructions won't work. Talamo probably won't try that yet, working for a client who has helped him succeed first season on a new circuit.
I think if she was 3-4 wide thru out, I had a better shot of cashing my win ticket. So I was biting my bottom lip thruout that final 1/2 mile too.
The warning is out: know this everytime we bet on an Ellis trainee.
We'll get'em again
07-07-2007, 02:07 AM
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