artietheratschilllarrrrrrrrrrrrr

[Gander]

I didnt bash Flower Alley on Saturday. Obviously he was short, Pletcher said he wasnt 100%. But also something must have went wrong there too, as he had a nice trip but when asked for run he had nothing. Kind of a similar race to Artie in a lot of respects. So yes, I remembered and wasnt one of the guys on here who rushed to bash this horse.

[Gander]

In all honesty, even if Artie was 100%, Remarkable News would have been very tough to reel in, given the fact he was allowed to set those ridiculously slow fractions for a horse of his caliber.

Not sure if Artie's problems were the reason Garret took back early off slow fractions, or was that his planned strategy. If it was his strategy I think he misjudged the race. Remarkable News still would have won in my opinion.

Originally Posted by Gander

I didnt bash Flower Alley on Saturday. Obviously he was short, Pletcher said he wasnt 100%. But also something must have went wrong there too, as he had a nice trip but when asked for run he had nothing. Kind of a similar race to Artie in a lot of respects. So yes, I remembered and wasnt one of the guys on here who rushed to bash this horse.

The more hours that go by without a press quote from Todd( you know damn well that at least 100 guys had to be askiing him for quotes for publications) about Flower Alley's race, the more nervous I am becoming that we have seen the last of him. Even not 100% hes NEVER gonna run like that with no excuse. He was perfectly placed right off of moderate fractions and just never ran an inch. Johnny knew he was empty on the turn and was beating him like drum. This is a tremendously game animal. Eeven when he was being rushed into the Tri Crown fray his ARk Derby always stuck out in my mind as an example of his gameness. You would have bet 10 grand at the 1/8th pole that day that after Alex had motored by him that he was gonna get swallowed up by Andromeda's hero for the place but when Andromeda came to him, even though he was exhausted, he dug in very gamely to hold the place and you could see him fighting hard. No way was he just "short" on saturday. Something had to have been up and the lack of talk from his camp tells me something went wrong.

[Gander]

Well let us know if you hear something Mike. That performance was equally disappointing to watch. Still hoping for a great BC Classic between Flower Alley, Lava Man and Bernardini. Heck, possibly BG Cat!

One can dream cant they?

[paisjpq]

Excerpt from the bloodhorse online--The official statement I guess


Trainer Todd Pletcher said Flower Alley, the Whitney favorite who faded to seventh, obviously needed the race.

"I was concerned that with only one race under his belt this year he might not be in peak form," Pletcher said. "I would have liked to see him finish up a little better than he did. I know he's a lot better than that, so we'll just regroup and point for the Woodward."

Pletcher said he was pleased by the third-place effort turned in by West Virginia. Both horses came out of the Whitney well, he said.

[slotdirt]

West Virginia has become a real gamer this year.

I'm not throwing in the towel on Artie Schiller yet.