Rags to Riches confirmed for Belmont
 

http://www.drf.com/news/article/85528.html

NT

We needed this. Fantastic news.

Goes from 5 Derby Colts to his only lady. This must hurt the ego. Now for that weak field of philly's she faced all year. :)

sweet.
Makes the race a lot more interesting.

:o

I am just glad that he isn't running Sam P.
If he did:
I would fall in love with the horse's great 12f pedigree.
I would see that the horse has a great running style for this race.
I would watch the replays of the Santa Anita Derby and the Kentucky Derby and realize that he ran deceptively decent races in both of those starts.
I would bet him heavily in the race at odds that thrilled me.
I would watch him finish 5th.

Good for Pletcher. I'm not her biggest fan but he stuck to his guns and said if only two of the top three go he'd send her. Maybe this is what he needs to break through in the TC...?

Adds a little intrigue to an otherwise very dull race.

This filly was the only real chance he had at any of the triple crown races. Hes the only one that couldnt see that

And this is the only one she had a REAL chance in. Anybody want to wager a guess on her odds at post time? I'll guess 4-1.

I think you will find around here, this is not true. Early on, nobody even thought she belonged with the boys, and only raced against weak fields. With only 3 races prior to the big events, who could blame them.

I wouldn't be so sure that Todd didn't think she was the most talented before the Derby. He's a pretty smart guy and has a very good handle on the relative talents of his horses.

Would have liked to see her run in Cal. against the boys though.

no doubt about that.

Facing 19 opponents vs. 13 she towered over had to figure into his Derby decision on such a lightly raced filly.

I guess Todd didn't think it was necessary....and considering he almost won the Santa Anita Derby with King of the Roxy it's hard to say he made the wrong decision. While one could easily argue he shouldn't subvert one owner's best interests for another I would say in this case if Coolmore wanted Rags to Riches in the Santa Anita Derby she would have run.

All things considered she probably would have won.

Will I get 5-1?

I dont know about that, but Curlin just went up from 2/5 to 4/5

Ill take Tiago, the only horse with a chance to beat Curlin

I think Rags to Riches has a better shot to beat Curlin than Tiago.....not that either is impossible.

I agree that she is the best 3yo in his barn right now (that can run 12f), however I still think AGS will be a useful stakes horse, if he ever gets the mental side. I glad he chose to run her in that it will help make this the showcase day it deserves to be for all of the game. I really wasn't going to wager on the race until now. Thanks TODD!

I thought It made too much sense not to run her....

I have something of a suspicion that Pletcher probably believed that the biggest drawback to running her, was that he'd be losing what looked like a strong hand for a Acorn-Mother Goose training sweep, with his two best 3yo fillies. He's left with a MUCH weaker hand at that sweep now...

But, when you're in the position he's in...the reality is...if you have a horse that's good enough to win a Classic in the Triple Crown series, it's just too hard to not take a chance.

He'll have the favorite in both of them anyways, albeit not an overwhelming choice like Rags would have been in the Mother Goose.

It certainly adds much more flavor to the race. Finally some half way decent news in the horse racing department.

We'll see how Dream Rush does in the Acorn. She may not maintain her performances as the races get longer but she's certainly a faster filly than Octave so far.

The thought of Octave winning big races saddens me.

She's A Brick House
 

Thank you Mista Pletcha.
To those who thought the complection of the race changed when Digger was entered. What say you now?

and thank you Todd for not entering Circular quay in an impossible spot.
I surely would have burned more money on this colt, despite knowing there's no way he wants to go 12F.

I'm guessing Rags will be the 3rd betting choice...probably around 9-2 or so.

I bet she's second choice.

Agreed, I don't like Octave or Cotton Blossom much at all. Panty Raid is his 2nd best filly and hopefully he'll get kicked upside the head and realize that soon.

I'm concerned about regression from Dream Rush. That was such a huge race in the Nassau, she can't possibly go forward from that. She might be able to regress a bit and still win, depending on what speed enters.

The Acorn is one of my favorite races of the year because of the handicapping challenge of it- you typically have stretchouts from the Nassau/other sprints, holdovers from the Comely, and cutbacks from the Oaks or BES. People tend to overlook the closing cutback types and they have won at a very high rate- the last 5 were all coming out of sharp efforts in 2 turn races. I can't remember where Finder's Fee ran prior in '01.

But does she have a shot, I am going to say no, and is a huge underlay. Curlin and Spun are faster even though I like neither of them. And her being 3 or 4/1 isn't playable. I might play Spun by default at 6/1, he should love the distance and having that bs horse in there will benefit him as that he should get first run while sitting 2w about 2 lengths off

Will Octave run in the Acorn or the Mother Goose?

It seems as though Pletcher has suggested that he might now run Cotton Blossom in the Acorn and Octave in the Mother Goose.

If that's so---Dream Rush will be the favorite in the Acorn and I'd assume Christmas Kid the 2nd choice.

I bet you'll get a better price on Hard Spun than on the filly.

Didnt realize that his owners were blind

I'm not a big Christmas Kid fan.....and Cotton Blossom is ridiculously weak. You may be right, Octave could wait until the Mother Goose.

I won't even address Phil's silly rmarks about Dream Rush regressing after her absurd walk in the park in the Nassau. If that race took something out of her then the game is an even bigger joke than I think it is.

Did Pletcher announce who will be riding her yet?

KY_Sasquash

Maybe you are blind :cool: I said he is the only one that hadnt realized that, never said anything about the owners

For the sake of your precious Panty you should be a lot more concerned about Dream Rush moving up off the Nassau! I think she is the only possible threat to Rags in the 3yo filly crop but I doubt her ability at a mile and an eighth to take down Rags. The Mother Goose should be interesting if Dream Rush is there as I think she might be good enough to beat the rest of the 3yo filly crop even at a less than desirable distance for her.

She's a really nice filly, no question, and a mile isn't going to be a problem- but how often have we seen fillies like this go down in flames in the Acorn??

It has to be Prado, right?

You'll have to give me some real examples.

Panty Raid is a joke by the way. The field she beat, with a perfect trip, in the Black Eyed Susan was disgraceful.

Oh Where Oh Where...........
 

I'm guessin that TAP is looking for Prado as we thread.

Yes, CK would be VERY tough to play off a seemingly dream trip (who really knows what a dream trip on poly is though?) Grade 1 win at KEE...and those stakes in South Florida two and three back were watered down races....though I felt she was the best in those weak fields.

Dream Rush looks like the horse....but if Octave doesn't go...there goes any value.

Hopefully Pletcher decides to send both Octave and CB....and have Panty Raid as his Mother Goose horse.

She's by Wild Rush out of an Unbridled mare. I don't question her ability to go a route, I'm wary of speed types in the Acorn.