No Wood for Circular Quay

[miraja2]

Originally Posted by MisterB

WOW

What a bet to take here

I know! Have you ever seen such a sure thing?
In a somewhat related - and slightly more serious matter - I have no idea how good of a trainer Tim Ritchey is overall, because I don't follow his tracks carefully, but personally I loved what he did with Afleet Alex in '05.
Remember when he brought him back in that 6f Mountain Valley Stakes (or whatever it is called)? Ritchey said something to the effect of "well I was planning on giving him a strong 6f work so I figured hey, might as well put him in a race!" What a novel concept! Apparently he wasn't afraid that his horse would run too well (whatever the hell that means) and therefore compromise his chances for future success.
Then there was the business about all of Alex's long works that Ritchey said he used to build up the horse's stamina. It seemed to work out okay with his impressive victories in the Arkansas, Preakness, and Belmont. I don't know squat about training, but don't these two ideas (bringing your horse back in a sprint, and using long/slow works to build stamina) make more sense than only running your horses every two months with some 5f works in between starts?
Also do trainers ever really think...."Oh no my horse ran much better in that race than I wanted him to run." Somehow I doubt it.