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I think anyone judging Mike Smith’s ride should totally ignore those who went a suicidal pace clear of the main pack. It did seem more than 5 lengths from Zenyatta to the main group though.
I thought Zenyatta was moving poorly early on. Also had her head held a bit high and ears pricked. She had to put up with a great deal beforehand. Flash photography on racecourses is banned in GB, for good reason. The shouting and screaming did not help either. Zenyatta probably put off by all the antics of the crowd. Took even more time than normal to warm to her task.If Smith did not believe something was wrong, then he overdid the waiting tactics a little. But do feel a lot of people who should know better have gone totally OTT and allowed emotion to hinder their judgement (possibly like Smith)
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Its about winning and losing Ginger! She lost because of the jockey. Like Chappers always says, if you praise someone all the time when they gets things correct then you have permission to blast them if they get it wrong. Sure, emotions are high and Smith’s taking a hammering, but it only looks like that. Either he won or he didn’t. If he won he’d be god….but he didn’t so what does that make him?
I feel for Mike Smith right now, probably more than the horse having considered his probable emotional state but he deserves to be told he got things wrong. He really couldn’t have won anything from this race…if she won she would have been the star, but when she lost he was the villain. Very sad for all concerned
- Total Posts 17716
If Zenyatta had won, even if only by a nostril, Mike Smith would now be being hailed as having administered the greatest ride of all time.
That fine line just shows how ridiculous the reaction has been to her defeat.
If Zenyatta had won, even if only by a nostril, Mike Smith would now be being hailed as having administered the greatest ride of all time.
That fine line just shows how ridiculous the reaction has been to her defeat.
Why though…she never
needed
to be that far back. Why would he be hailed for making it difficult for her? He still would have smacked the living sh*t out of her to win.
I don’t buy it
I disagree on that one AJ..
Even with the defeat the horse is getting a lot of credit. I think had she managed to just get up people would have just gave her even more credit and said that the performance of the horse covered up a poor ride from the jockey.
Mike Smith needed to be closer to the eventual winner and needed to ask Zenyatta for an effort earlier before Blame stole a 5 length advantage. When Smith did ask his horse for the effort (whether too heavy handed or not) she made up the deficit pretty quickly, and would have won if that effort had been asked for earlier IMO.
One thing I will applaud Mike Smith on is coming out and accepting he made a mistake. It takes a big man to do that and at the end of the day there’s only one person on Earth who knows how much the horse had left. If he accepts he made a mistake and should have won then that’s good enough for me.
Pretty good report here:
I don’t think Smith did a great deal wrong until the final furlong. She was clearly not travelling for whatever reason and as soon as she found a rhythm she was bustled forward, turning into the straight she still had every chance if she was good enough; on the day she wasn’t. Smith deserves ****ing for what happens next though.
Nulty,
The OTT stuff from Chapman (who else) was about judging the ride by distance Zenyatta was behind the leader. Where as he should have judged it by the early distance between winner and Zenyatta.
The leaders went off far too quickly, and mis-judged the pace to a far greater degree than Mike Smith.
But not for the first time, Chappers exaggerates and lets emotion win.
Value Is Everything- Total Posts 17716
Exactly, Mark.
Here’s a link to the press conference. In my opinion, he cost her the race, but we’re all human and the link below should serve as a reminder:
“
She just wasn’t leveling out like I wanted to; the combination of the dirt hitting her face was a lot of it
,” Smith said. “Just left her with too much to do. I truly believe I was on the best horse today. If I had to blame anybody, it would be me.”
She’s finished 2nd beaten a nose in the BC Classic on just her 3rd lifetime run on Dirt. The jockey can’t do anything if the horse won’t face the kickback. Why she’s not been given the chance to experience it since the Apple Blossom, therefore finding out how she might handle it, is down to the trainer and owner.They haven’t left California all year; they have given her the same campaign as the past 3 seasons. This time the BC Classic was on Dirt at Churchill Downs.
On a synthetic track Zenyatta wins the race with that ride.
Maybe they did go a shade over the top but in the heat of the moment they gave their opinion which they’re entitled to do.
Don’t think anyone is saying Zenyatta should have been 30 lengths further forward after a couple of furlongs, but surely she should have been closer to the other horses who were dropped out the back, not a full 10 lengths or so adrift on her own?
As they said at the time thoughts were probably going through a lot of peoples minds that there was something amiss with the horse.
I also thought at the crucial time when the winner kicked for home, Zenyatta still seemed to be travelling pretty well but wasn’t in a good enough position to react quick enough and lost the race because of it IMO.
Anyway, no matter what Chappers, Big Mac, or anyone on here says, the opinion I will listen to more than any other is from the guy in the best position to call it and that’s Smith himself. The following quote will do for me…
"It hurts more than I can explain just because it was my fault," said Smith. "She should have won."
Nulty:
Totally agree. I don’t
want
to blame anyone but it certainly wasn’t the horse lacking ability that got them beat. Fact is, if she was closer she would have won. I feel sorry for
all
concerned and to be perfectly honest. If Frankie admitted crying after Swain – imagine how Mike Smith is right now. And in the circumstances, I don’t care if Blame won or not. There was no way that any winner other than Zenyatta would get any recognition en masse. I feel sorry for their connections too.
Will she ever be the same? With her dancing etc. Thats if she ever races again. (If we’ve given her this personality, how will she take defeat?)
..but surely the point is that the jockey could not get her closer? He did try to bustle her up earlier than he would usually in a race but she couldn’t respond. She was taken off her feat and ws unable to settle into her rhythm…hardly surprising when you consider the pace (which you agree was too quick).
Zenyatta had previously found a way to win her previous 19 starts, she just couldn’t on the 20th occasion. No jockey knows what she’s capable of more than Smith. I’m also glad he threw the kitchen sink at her as otherwise we’d be having rampant debates and punting acrimony over how he "looked after her and didn’t do enough to try and get her up"
Zip
People must have short memories. She was almost as far back last year. Go and look at last year’s race.
2009 Classic
2f — 15 1/4
4f — 13
6f — 9
8f — 6 3/4
Str– 1 1/4
fin– Won2010 Classic
2f — 16 1/4
4f — 15
6f — 14 3/4
8f — 6
Str– 2
fin– hdThis is the distance she was behind Blame for the trip this year
2f — 9 1/4
4f — 4 1/2
6f — 5
8f — 5 3/4
Str– 2
fin– hd- Total Posts 17716
Sorry mate but that’s just a whole bunch of useless info. You can be 100 length behind if therace is slower than you travel in a canter.
I very seldom blame a jockey but Mike Smith blew tt big time by grossly overdoing things at the start. Fair play to the man he knows it. Biggest race if her life and he totally misjudged the pace of the first furlong leaving Zenyatta with 3 races to run instead of her normal two if that makes sense. He made the same mistake Lester did many years ago on Nijinsky in the Arc by not giving good horses the reapect he deserved.
The only horse I feared did whatI thought he might and that’s racing as they say but I’m bitterly disapointed her career ended like this.
I think she got beat fair and square upon a bit more reflection. The kickback may have detached her from the field but she was still in a manageable position at the entrance of the straight and had the pace and a long homestraight to suit. I really don’t think the slow getaway hurt her too much, I’ve seen too many horses run like that well to think otherwise (Mine That Bird and the jockey Shane Dye is well known to get plenty out of his horses down under and in Hong Kong).
She may have got a poor ride, she probably did, but they one thing that she wasn’t was unlucky. To get a run like that through a field of 12, half of whom were going backwards on top of her, round a bend and with the air full of dirt….was very fortunate indeed.
Its a great shame but ultimately will probably only add to her legacy and charisma.Not sure who it was that said it (might have been Vincent O’Brien).."you never really know how good they are until the get beat".
I’ve only recently subscribed to ATR and RUK online. As a result I’ve watched hardly any coverage by C4.
Last night I was struck by one thing. On ATR there was, inevitably, tremendous scrutiny of the ride with ‘Big Mac’ and Chapman leading the case for imprisoning the jockey. There was some defence from American contributors – sort of.
However, I just started to imagine what it would have been like if C4 had covered the event.
‘Big Mac’ would have been just as critical, but you can imagine the response from his colleagues:
McGrath (eyes closed in an attempt to convey greater intelligence) John, you just can’t say things like that. The jockey’s not deliberately got beaten. The fractions are so small, it was close at the line, you’ve no evidence whatsoever to be making outlandish statements like that – totally unfair.
Francome Listen, Mac, tell me, how many winners have you ridden on the dirt? No, really Mac, how many winners have you ridden? I’ve looked through all the form books and I can’t see your name next to anything. You don’t know what it’s like to ride horses in an event like this, with all the pressure and all the focus. It just goes to show how difficult these things are.
Mr Down would then have interviewed the connections of the runner-up and probably would have conducted his usual obsequious exchange, something along the lines of
‘She’s still our champion, nobody’s fault, these things happen, that’s racing. Don’t listen to the less civilised members of our team complaining.’
ATR has loads of faults, but good grief it’s fences ahead of the C4 production.
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