Originally Posted by
Sofoulis
I will put this to you both: If the plan is for the horse to go forward because its only chance of winning is to lead (consistent with the change of tactics notified), and it is made to work extremely hard for that lead....... she would have had two choices:
1. Restrain the horse and therefore forgo any chance of winning within the first 200metres
2. Continue to work to the front, try back off and steal a couple of quarters so the horse still has something in the tank for the run home
Under option 2 the horse is still given the most chance of winning out of the two scenarios given the circumstances. She cannot be blamed / penalised for circumstances that are outside of her control.
In my view, the result of this drive should not be a generalised comment that she cannot judge pace.......because, like has been said many times on this site already, her preferred driving style is to lead, where she dictates the pace........ and she has extremely good results by doing this. If you don't like this one drive because of circumstances, so be it... but also, let's talk about her drive on SSL that enabled that horse to beat (whilst in front) Beautide (acknowledge this was mentioned in an earlier post) or the many drives she has had on my horses that only won because of her drive rather than the horse's raw ability...
In short, the stewards were satisfied, the trainer is satisfied, the connections will show their satisfaction (or otherwise) when they choose to put her on RR next or not........ and all of these people are closer to the horse and tactics than any of us on this site.