Did the Belmont Stakes race look fishy to anyone else?

[NewEra 2014]

In the last quarter of the race, Mindframe appeared to go wide for no reason. I’m not a horse racing guy, but it sure looked odd to me. For racing fans, is there a valid reason why that horse went so wide? I actually had the winning horse, but I thought Mindframe had the race in the bag once they made the final turn.

. 2024 Belmont Stakes

 

[LionJim]

In the last quarter of the race, Mindframe appeared to go wide for no reason. I’m not a horse racing guy, but it sure looked odd to me. For racing fans, is there a valid reason why that horse went so wide? I actually had the winning horse, but I thought Mindframe had the race in the bag once they made the final turn.

. 2024 Belmont Stakes

I noticed that also.

 

[eilion]

Probably just the randomness of the moment. The Belmont has added distance and both jockey and horse lost it for a split second. That's all it takes.

 

[Erial_Lion]

In the last quarter of the race, Mindframe appeared to go wide for no reason. I’m not a horse racing guy, but it sure looked odd to me. For racing fans, is there a valid reason why that horse went so wide? I actually had the winning horse, but I thought Mindframe had the race in the bag once they made the final turn.

. 2024 Belmont Stakes

Keep in mind that 3 year olds are still very young/inexperienced horses. It's not unusual to see younger horses act like that in the stretch, especially when you factor in the size/noise of the crowd in that moment. Looks like Irad Ortiz did a nice job of steadying him and getting him back into it as they came down the stretch.

 

[Erial_Lion]

Probably just the randomness of the moment. The Belmont has added distance and both jockey and horse lost it for a split second. That's all it takes.

Note that this year's (and next year's) Belmont was run at a mile and a quarter, so not really added distance.

 

[CDLionFL]

It was also Mindframe’s 3rd lifetime start and in a crowd that raucous, even the best horses will get distracted and lose their focus. In one of Sierra Leone’s wins this spring, he was out in like lane 12 as he ran the stretch.