I watched the 2021 Derby to review why Essential Quality just couldn't get there. As Dogs watched the race again the colt seemed to be in the contentious zone but never delivered a knockout punch 

Jockey Luis Saez in the week preceding 2021 Derby was getting media criticism on his ride in 2019 aboard the 2019 DQ Maximum Security.

Dogs sees it as Saez just didn't want to engage EQ into close quarters and chances of revisiting his reputation of rough and careless riding. 

He'll be on his home track the Big Sandy and the long and wide track and small field size should put him at ease.

Derby DQ --Documentary

https://youtu.be/f-riQFAnhBU

2021 Derby

https://youtu.be/oNNlSdkjuqA

I think it was mostly the track.  Medina Spirit didn’t really run any better than he was capable of but there were plenty of others including Essential Quality that were capable of a lot more.

Did you watch both videos?

Although it looks to me as Maximum Security was independently out of control and Luis righted him. In the subsequent Derby where Luis again had the favorite,

Churchill put up a warning flag not to create another embroiled outcome.

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CD’s still trying to justify the DQ.  They’re batting .007 with 1 out of 147.

I think Essential Quality ran his race, he just lost so much ground. He ran 68ft farther than Medina Spirit. Only Rock Your World (90ft) and Dynamic One (80ft) ran farther. 

Do you have that stat for Known Agenda ?

Oldbettowin said...

I think it was mostly the track.  Medina Spirit didn’t really run any better than he was capable of but there were plenty of others including Essential Quality that were capable of a lot more.

I agree and besides, judging a ride or even a run by a horse, in a true "chaos race" like the KY Derby, where we know "the best horse doesn't always win" because all sorts of things happen, just seems to be a race where I would hesitate to draw any true "conclusions" about anything.    If EQ was in a field of 10, w/Saez riding, then I might have a 2nd look. 

Max Sec in 2019 was able to avoid most all of it, other than the horses pressing the pace,  because he got out in front and stayed there.  I think he did start drifting and you can see the exact point in the race when he got "noticeably tired".  (understandably)..... and then he righted and persevered......Country House was getting his 2nd wind coming around that last turn as he had a lot of stamina and ....but for Max, it could have been any race at that point with a field of 5 or 20.   He was fast.  

Watching that race many times since it happened, it makes me feel melancholy in too many respects.  Watching them run over that horrible sloppy track, etc. Every year I want to hide my eyes, its all so dangerous w/that many horses and riders on the track.  That particular year was incredibly dangerous with the bumping, drifting, heel clipping, on a muddy track.   

I always felt bad for Max Sec because you could see that he tried very hard.  I don't fault the horse.    

God only knows what Servis had him on though, now that we know the whole story about him.  :(   

It was the painful right call.

The Derby, especially muddy, no inquiry or claim of foul unless a jockey takes a chain saw, electric cow prod or taser gun out of his boot.

I would have had that Tri in that Max also interfered with Johnny Vee  mount placing fifth, moved to fourth, needed a move to third.

It was an aggregious train wreck and as the video shows the Stewards took 22 minutes. Do the right thing.

This new drug test draconian embroilment that the Stews are dragged into is perhaps even more a night mare in progress than the 1st DQ adjudication by the 3 judges...Official. and Final.

So he had to take probably close to 3 1/2 more strides to get to the same finish line.  I wonder how many lengths that would translate to?  No idea.  I looked elsewhere for my derby horse because his odds were too low for the misgivings I had on him...the Bluegrass didn’t really have much pace even though it finished in decent time.   I was looking for Highly Motivated to press and be in position in the derby but they never backed up.  Then the third place horse from the Bluegrass took the Preakness after an honest pace on an honest track so EQ probably should have won the derby in retrospect.  

Known Agenda ran 6630 ft in 2:02.38 in the Derby. He ran 13 ft less than Medina Spirit and 81 less than Essential Quality.