I hate to make excuses for a 1-5 shot when he loses, but geez, jockey John Velazquez sure did Hard Study no favors when he had him three wide around the second and third and final turn in the just completed Birdstone Stakes. And that in a four horse field.

Hard Study finished second as the 1-5 favorite to Big Dollar Bill, beaten one length, or, to put it another way, less than the ground he lost seemingly needlessly.