Don’t Blame Me for Gushing

“We were super confident,” Gomez said. “It’s just one of those things you don’t want to say too much so you can let the horse do the talking. He’s trained magnificently for this race and every other race I’ve ridden him in. He’s a magnificent older horse and I can’t wait until we go farther.  “If you watched me ride him, I never hit him. I actually moved up at about the three-eighths pole and I felt pretty confident then. I was just biding my time until we turned for home. I just didn’t want to sit too long because he’s got a long consistent run and just keeps coming. … He kept staying on and in that last eighth of a mile, when I finally got right to [Quality Road], I said ‘I got him.” Garrett Gomez had good reason to be confident. His charge Blame rallied relentlessly down the stretch to do what to some was the unthinkable, and nail Quality Road a few strides before the wire. No matter who you were rooting for, yesterday‘s Whitney Handicap lived up to advance billing. It was supposed to the best race so far in 2010, and it was. Yesterday’s race was a shining example of why we watch horse racing.  Three of the best horses in the nation put on a show, and they produced a thrilling stretch run. Yes, I said three. Musket Man deserves his props. After being forced wide on the first time, the gutty little Yonaguska colt chased Quality Road around the track, and once again ran a big race. It’s clear that he is not quite as good as the top two, but he is quite a horse in his own right. He is still my early pick to win this year’s Breeders’ Cup Mile. But make no mistake, yesterday was all about Blame, and he could not be a more deserving star. Winning stakes in relative anonymity until yesterday, Blame continues to climb to the stratosphere of the racing world. I saw the Al Stall trained bay win last Fall’s Clark Handicap as a three-year-old; I was very impressed. I saw him rally on a speed track to win this year’s Foster; my respect for him grew. In the Whitney, he turned it up another notch. In beating the best male horse in America, he now smoothly steps into that title. Claiborne Farm’s Blame is now the top male horse in the nation. Yesterday’s win was his best yet, his fifth straight in graded stakes, and the scary thing is, he still may be improving. I have a feeling this horse will never be underestimated again. “I tried to put him into the bridle, but he was just going through the motions, which is strange for him. I was hoping there’d be nobody there, so I got to drifting. I was trying to make it more difficult for the horse on the outside.” So said disappointed rider John Velazquez who was aboard the race favorite. As for Quality Road, he ran a very good race, but it was not quite what his staunchest of supporters were hoping for. The terrific talent, who can make the speed figure dials spin, has still not proven that he can beat the very best gong a route of ground. Does yesterday prove he can not? Absolutely not, but the question lingers. Until he beats Blame, Zenyatta, Rachel, or all of the above at a classic distance, we just don’t know. What’s next for these two titans? Well the ultimate answer is the Breeders’ Cup Classic and a showdown with a couple of ladies, but for the immediate future, the Jockey Club Gold Cup would seem to be a sensible stage for Blame-Quality Road II. We shall see. For now I am going to watch the replay of the Whitney about a dozen more times. Race of the year so far? I’d say so!