I'm so mad I'm shaking

[bdw0617]

I wanted Chrome to win so bad.

I was not pleased with the ride. he should have gotten closer to the lead.

[Cree]

Jay Privman @DRFPrivman
That is why I picked against California Chrome. I think he is best of this bunch, overall. But 36 years should tell you how hard this is.

[geowarrior]

The ride was fine. If he had gone to the lead the jockey would have been vilified a la Stuart Elliot for having gone too soon.

[bdw0617]

maybe but the last TC winners all won wire to wire. he was really the only speed in the race


I thinks he overthought the race.

[Joltman]

The real issue was position. CC needed to be free-running and he was bottled up. VE could have gone front, given up the lead and fanned out. CCs efforts when behind horses were poor -and many horses, (unlike Euro types) simply hate it being bottled up on the rail, on the dirt. I think he's one of them. He needed to draw outside. All that takes nothing away from the winner.

jm

[Mahubah]

I don't think being bottled up was the issue. If you look at the videos of his races when stuck behind horses after bad starts at 2, he was shaking his head and trying to duck in and out, clearly not liking the kickback -- but he still ran pretty hard when he did get clear. There wasn't any of that behavior today, but no finishing run when he did get clear either. He didn't look entirely comfortable but that could have been the quarter grab reported by The Blood-Horse rather than his positioning.

[geowarrior]

I agree with Mahubah. The aerial view shows that at no time was he boxed in, nor was he in a position to suffer much kickback to his face. However the pan view suggested to me that he wasn't moving comfortably (stride was 'bounding' rather than smooth) at a fairly early stage in the race.

[Joltman]

I think it's behavioral for some horses just not to like being in the pack. That's especially true with some horses when they have to run 'between horses'. It could be part of their emotional makeup or competitiveness (or lack of it). It tenses them up and hence the stride gets jerky though he was better than in the juvenile races. Still, I think if he had an outside post and could have eased to a free running position, no bleeding hoof - he's right there at the wire. He still didn't run a bad race IMHO.

jm

[jagger]

Hit the nail on the head...as usual, Madelyn. It was by far, his worst trip. Just the way the race evolved. And it was a good time. Even in 4th, he would have beaten all the Belmont winners of the last 4 years.....and many others....including MANY of the Triple Crown WINNERS.

[Mahubah]

I agree with Mahubah. The aerial view shows that at no time was he boxed in, nor was he in a position to suffer much kickback to his face. However the pan view suggested to me that he wasn't moving comfortably (stride was 'bounding' rather than smooth) at a fairly early stage in the race.

The foot injury that he apparently suffered at the start probably had a lot to do with that altered stride and why he lacked any closing kick.

[BenB]

imho, he was just flat, the last sxi or seven races took enough out of him, and the injury was not a big help either. Just as racing is, sometimes you,re lucky, sometimes you,re unlucky. Because of the adraline, horses are not feeling the pain in the same way we do ( hypofyse) only when it is severe.

[Mahubah]

I don't know that he felt all that much pain until the adrenaline ran out, but chances are pretty good the injury did cause him to alter his stride slightly, just as a healthy human runner will instinctively adapt his/her gait to ease a spot that's taking too much pressure well before the pain of a full-blown blister forces him/her to actually start limping. At any rate, we'll never know for certain how much of Chrome's fatigue was due to the TC grind, how much was due to the distance, and how much was due to to his stride mechanics having been altered by the injury. All we can do is hope he recovers 100% and comes back to dance some more dances in the late summer or fall.

[ratherrapid]

Interesting post!

My take:
1. If Chrome had it in him to win--and I think he did, although some of the training was questionable to me, the heel bulb injury did him in. Horses never extend themselves with such an injury, and it's unknown to us how deep that gash was. Had to hurt and sting him every stride.
2. Questionable ride--agree. I'd thought they'd have their strategy figured out. Otherwise. Art Sherman arrives late at Belmont. Somebody said they failed to warm the horse up very well. Of course, it's unknown to us whether Chrome was failing to respond to the rider.
3. Chrome's possible weakness was that he was never challenged. What would happen when he was? Maybe it was up to the connections to make sure that going for the TC was other than the race Chrome would face a challenge. They should have got him out in space away from those horses imo.
4. Galloping brisk (as it was reported) two miles day before race + track work morning of race. As trainer of this, are you just begging for your horse to be flat on race day?