Horse running through field

Drosselmeyer Equipped with Dynaflow

by Roger Lyons

The first car I drove as a teenager was a 1950 Buick Special. The starter was engaged by switching on the ignition and pressing the accelerator all the way to the floor. It never failed to start. The way Mike Smith guided Drosselmeyer to the outside, keeping him in stride and in the clear and then wore down the leaders in the stretch reminds me of that 1950 Buick Special. When you take off in a 1950 Buick Special, it goes from zero to whatever without any gear changes. That’s because the 1950 Buick Special had a Dynaflow transmission, and that’s exactly what Drosselmeyer has.

Bob Baffert has been quoted on his preference for horses with tactical speed, horses that can adapt their run to the way a race unfolds. That’s certainly an advantage in most races, just as surely as not having tactical speed–quick acceleration, the ability to shift gears during the running of a race–is a limitation. It’s been a problem for Drosselmeyer all along.

It’s truly a beautiful thing, though, when observation yields a plan based on a realistic assessment of a horse’s strengths, and then that plan is perfectly and successfully executed. Bill Mott, Mike Smith, and the team behind Drosselmeyer showed how the Belmont, perhaps more so than any other race, can play to the smooth ride, the horse equipped with Dynaflow.

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