Has horse racing become NASCAR ?
You have “teams” where you have another jockey riding a nag to block serious contenders?
Sure looks that way.
This is nothing new.
Most common is the rabbit strategy. A closer teams with a fast front-runner in hopes of wearing out another speedy front-runner so the closer can pick up the pieces.
The blocking is common in many sporting events to prevent opponents from overtaking another participant. Has happened for many years in football, basketball, ice hockey, auto racing, track races, speed ice skating, cycling races, etc.