Today’s Shine Again Stakes was about as thrilling as a four horse race gets. Better Lucky came  from well out of it to snatch a four-horse photo.

The horse that may have been best was Grace Hall. She was blasted in the lane by Miss Aurelia and despite being knocked offstride, she recovered to miss winning by a head.

Do I know for absolute certain that Grace Hall would have won the race without the bumping incident? Of course not. But is it highly conceivable that having to check cost her a half a length? Of course it is.

There was a brief if not spirited discussion about the role jockeys Joel Rosario (Grace Hall) and Johnny Velasquez (Miss Aurelia) may have played in the outcome. One side said, Grace Hall was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. That’s horseracing. The other side said, in a four horse race, can’t you find a way to make sure your horse is clear of any potential trouble?

I’ll admit to my bias. I tend to think that it is 90% horse and 10% jockey, and if that is the case, it is far more likely that a jockey will make an error that causes the horse to lose than somehow find a way to get a horse who isn’t best to win. I watched the replay a number of times. I will concede that if Johnny V didn’t foul Grace Hall she had a lane to run in and probably would have won the race. As it was, she was bumped, lost some momentum and had to pull to the outside to finish the race.

I’m still going to give Rosario some of the blame. It was a four horse race. How in the world do you not have the ability to put your horse in a spot that allows it to run clear the whole race? How many horses could she have possibly needed to circle? Instead, Rosario allowed Velasquez to dictate Grace Hall’s race. Rosario stuck Grace Hall on the rail and Velasquez immediately made sure he kept her right there. Now that is smart race riding. Kudos to Velasquez and a little bit of frustration with Rosario. Bridgehampton, the leader, wasn’t going to let Grace Hall through on the inside. In fact, only bad things could happen from the position Rosario had her. Rosario had to make sure Miss Aurelia moved out enough to give him a lane, which was no sure thing. He had to avoid running up on Bridgehampton. And given it was a four horse field, Rosario chose to put himself in the position where the highest probability of trouble existed.

No, it wasn’t Rosario’s fault Miss Aurelia came over. But if you read my blog on jockeys posted the other day, I listed the jockey’s responsibilities.

1. They break a horse in a way that allows the horse to establish the proper position.
2. They steer the horse clear of trouble.
3. They keep the horse on the live part of the racetrack.
4. They understand energy distribution for a particular animal.
5. They make sure their horse will have a clear lane to run in.
6. They understand quirky trips (like 6 1/2F downhill at SA)at certain tracks.
7. They move the horse at the right time.
8. They relax the horse at the right time.
9. They get the horse to change leads at the right time.
10. They keep the horse running in a straight line.

It’s not an easy job, but  if the jockey has the best horse, and that horse doesn’t win, he has to shoulder some of the blame. He did something wrong, even if it was putting a horse in what turns out to be the wrong place at the wrong time. I’m just going to have a hard time believing Rosario couldn’t have done a better job of putting Grace Hall in the most advantageous spot to win the race.