Friday, July 10, 2009

Close race in jockey poll: Can Chantal Sutherland beat Somebody Else?

Could Mike Smith retain the mount on Mine That Bird if our voters were in charge? Can Chantal Sutherland take down "Somebody Else?" What's with all the support for Richard Migliore?

These questions and more are being asked by the world today ... well, primarily by me ... as I'm intrigued with the results so far in the poll I opened (see column at left) on who my readers would hire as the replacement jockey for Calvin Borel if they owned Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird.

Noting that Mike Smith's two-race commitment still doesn't get the horse's connections through to the Breeders' Cup with a guaranteed jockey, I recommended Sutherland and said that Migliore also was a favorite of mine.

Among voters in the poll, Sutherland leads among my suggested names -- by a vote, 7-6-6 over Smith and Migliore -- but "Somebody Else" has the overall lead with 8 votes.

So if you have voted for "Somebody Else," I'd particularly like for you to stop back by and put the name of that "Somebody Else" in the comments section here, to see if there's a consensus pick emerging from the "none of the above" crowd.

1 comment:

  1. I was really thinking of Gabriel Saez.

    Not only because he deserves it after taking all that heat after Eight Belles' breakdown, he also fits the qualification of being a good jockey who doesn't yet have too many commitments to major stables (and, yes, I don't really expect Friesan Fire in the gate for the BC Classic).

    For the BC itself, SoCal riders like Rosario, Bejarano, Talamo, Solis or Flores come to mind, excellent jockeys all.

    I think any of your choices (with a slight exception for Sutherland) would be a "right" decision. Let's just hope they'll find someone willing to commit.

    ReplyDelete

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