The #6 Horse is hardly an "ote" horse. It is an
EARLY horse.
In it's last 6 races it has been 1st or 2nd at the first call all 6 races.
In addition, it has the fastest average 1st fraction time of any horse in the race.
It is a easy procedure to judge an early horse. Just look at how the horse performs from the stretch call to the finish. It it loses ground it is an early horse. If it gains ground it is not an early horse.
In this race there were 4 early horses with the #6 being on the outside. It was highly doubtful that this horse would be able to get the lead right from the gate and cross over to the rail. In a good piece of judgement, the rider kept pace from the outside and never far back, being just 1.5 lenths behind at the first call. At the second call some of the other early horses tired from their efforts and the #6 was 3rd just a "head" behind the leader. From there it went on to win the race.
It was an unusual race for the #6 horse, but under the circumstances it was the only shot the horse had and it made the best of it.
