3/28 (GP): Florida Derby (G1); Swale (G2); Appleton (G3)

Travis Stone · #1 03-28-2009, 05:56 PM

Pletcher wasn't too happy after the race, did anyone hear the line he gave Edwards? That was awesome regardless, great horse race!

Bobby Fischer · #2 03-28-2009, 05:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Travis Stone

Pletcher wasn't too happy after the race, did anyone hear the line he gave Edwards? That was awesome regardless, great horse race!

can you paraphrase it?
watching via xpressbet video feed

Cannon Shell · #3 03-28-2009, 06:00 PM

That may be the all time lame excuse. They got rain last Sunday?

justindew · #4 03-28-2009, 06:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cannon Shell

That may be the all time lame excuse. They got rain last Sunday?

Agreed. Pletcher is correct to bitch, although he could have scratched.

Cannon Shell · #5 03-28-2009, 06:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by justindew

Agreed. Pletcher is correct to bitch, although he could have scratched.

True. he should have bitched after the 1st.

The Indomitable DrugS · #6 03-28-2009, 06:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cannon Shell

True. he should have bitched after the 1st.

There are days when the track is souped up - times are lightning fast - and wide closers do very well throughout the card. Have an edge.

Just as there are days - like today in Dubai - when the track is very slow and tiring - times are slow - and the inside speed is at an extreme advantage.

Dunkirk labored over one of those slow tiring tracks in his debut at GP when he won in 1:25 and change.

A lot of times path and style biases seem to occur on funky weather days - and they said the winds were blowing at 25 MPH.

Cannon Shell · #7 03-28-2009, 06:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Indomitable DrugS

There are days when the track is souped up - times are lightning fast - and wide closers do very well throughout the card. Have an edge.

Just as there are days - like today in Dubai - when the track is very slow and tiring - times are slow - and the inside speed is at an extreme advantage.

Dunkirk labored over one of those slow tiring tracks in his debut at GP when he won in 1:25 and change.

A lot of times path and style biases seem to occur on funky weather days - and they said the winds were blowing at 25 MPH.

Looking at the flags it looked like a strong tailwind down the backstretch

fpsoxfan · #8 03-28-2009, 06:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by justindew

Agreed. Pletcher is correct to bitch, although he could have scratched.

Exactly. Pletcher could have showed a little more class. Why didn't he run in the Wood to begin with??

Danzig · #9 03-28-2009, 06:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fpsoxfan

Exactly. Pletcher could have showed a little more class. Why didn't he run in the Wood to begin with??

probably because he thought he could win here. now, let's see if cooler heads prevail with the horse and future plans.

fpsoxfan · #10 03-28-2009, 06:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Danzig

probably because he thought he could win here. now, let's see if cooler heads prevail with the horse and future plans.

Good Point. Obviously Dunkirk has a load of talent. He just ran into a very tough horse today. I'd hate to see him miss the derby because of earnings, especially when he's arguably one of the top five three year olds.

SCUDSBROTHER · #11 03-28-2009, 06:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fpsoxfan

Exactly. Pletcher could have showed a little more class. Why didn't he run in the Wood to begin with??

I would imagine it's difficult when you lose, and they jam the mic in your face right away. It is hard to complain like that without looking like you're trying to take away from the winners performance. They would of been closer together. That's all you can really say. There were easier spots. For whatever reason, they chose this spot.

Bobby Fischer · #12 03-28-2009, 07:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SCUDSBROTHER

I would imagine it's difficult when you lose, and they jam the mic in your face right away. It is hard to complain like that without looking like you're trying to take away from the winners performance. They would of been closer together. That's all you can really say. There were easier spots. For whatever reason, they chose this spot.

Good point.

I was having a discussion with a handicapper (Draynay) yesterday evening, and the topic of how fast the track was yesterday came up. With The Bonnie Miss going fast in spite of hard fractions, Dr. Pleasure equaling Quality Road's FOY time in an allowance, and the last race 18K claimers buzz sawing through a sub 1:16.

I feel bad for Pletch, but you can't take it away from Quality Road. If a 2nd in this truely top class race doesn't get you in, the blame isn't as much on the track as it is on circumstance.

Danzig · #13 03-28-2009, 07:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SCUDSBROTHER

I would imagine it's difficult when you lose, and they jam the mic in your face right away. It is hard to complain like that without looking like you're trying to take away from the winners performance. They would of been closer together. That's all you can really say. There were easier spots. For whatever reason, they chose this spot.

i don't think anyone would react well when someone is basically asking 'how'd it feel to lose?'

mbahadur · #14 03-28-2009, 10:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fpsoxfan

Exactly. Pletcher could have showed a little more class. Why didn't he run in the Wood to begin with??

It would have been just as difficult to win the Wood (which has the same $750K purse as the Fla Derby) with I Want Revenge in there as it would have been the Florida Derby. On HRTV before the race, when asked about the comparison to Big Brown going into the Florida Derby last year, Jeff Siegel stated that this was a much tougher field than Big Brown had to face.

The $1 million Arkansas Derby may have been a good fit for Dunkirk's running style if Pletcher could have waited 2 more weeks (second in the Arkansas Derby is also worth more than second in the Fla Derby).

Travis Stone · #15 03-28-2009, 10:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mbahadur

The $1 million Arkansas Derby may have been a good fit for Dunkirk's running style if Pletcher could have waited 2 more weeks (second in the Arkansas Derby is also worth more than second in the Fla Derby).

Not an easy track to close on... and right now there isn't loads of speed in Arkansas. Silver City is not going... so it's Papa Clem and who else on the front?

Danzig · #16 03-28-2009, 06:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bobby Fischer

can you paraphrase it?
watching via xpressbet video feed

pletcher said he complained to one of the top guys at the track about how they tinkered with the surface. referenced the fact it was the second track record today (big drama in the swale-stands even with the dq i guess), that if he had known they were going to mess with the track and produce a bias for front runners, he'd have gone to aqu next week instead. he seemed pretty ticked off-whether it's a legit beef, i don't know.

mclem0822 · #17 03-28-2009, 06:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Travis Stone

Pletcher wasn't too happy after the race, did anyone hear the line he gave Edwards? That was awesome regardless, great horse race!

It was a great race I agree, I'd love to see them both go on to the Derby. The track records keep getting smashed today.