Bet Twice Wrote:
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> If you watch the replay and zoom in you can see
> the Garcia standing up and vigorously pulling on
> the right rein to straighten him out - there's no
> way that was intentional. I'm no fan of BB but I
> can't fault him there.
I am, of course, not privy to any Baffert/Garcia conversation pre-race -- but, they did conveniently wipe out the ONLY pace danger to Bayern and also conveniently wiped out the morning line favorite.
Do you really think that if the trainer was from Illinois or England or Peru the horse would not have been disqualified? The entire complexion of the biggest race in America (purse-wise) was affected. If Moreno pressured Bayern like everyone expected, would there have been a different result (yes).
Pretty much all of my horse buddies are in agreement on this one. Including other owners and trainers. You can disagree if you wish. With this new ruling that fouls are never created right out of the gate (only in Southern California) it will be interesting to see what latitude jockeys and trainers will now test going forward.
No sense arguing this one with me -- racing's integrity took another big hit.