BC can't answer handle figs honestly: "It's the field size, stupid" - Page 2

gales0678 · #21 11-09-2009, 06:17 PM

freddy - yonkers was packed on sat , breeders cup day and then they had a big harness race at night.....slots were packed , live entertainment , the rooney family is rollin in the dough over at YR thx to SLOTS!

eajinabi · #22 11-09-2009, 06:28 PM

ESPN should stop showing the multi-angle camera display. It drives me insane.
Those type of cameras should be used for stewards when determining inquiries.

eajinabi · #23 11-09-2009, 06:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gales0678

freddy - yonkers was packed on sat , breeders cup day and then they had a big harness race at night.....slots were packed , live entertainment , the rooney family is rollin in the dough over at YR thx to SLOTS!

I was at retama park on friday night and the place was packed also. I was kinda surprised becuase the Breeders Cup Day 1 was well over and there were no stakes races carded that night.

The surprising thing was, it wasnt your usual degenarates but people bringing thier families and lots of kids.

philcski · #24 11-09-2009, 10:37 PM

New article from Hegarty: http://www.drf.com/news/article/108837.html

Kasept · #25 11-10-2009, 05:01 AM

From Hegarty's piece:

Kirchner also said Breeders' Cup lost a sizeable portion of the $2.2 million in bets that were refunded on Quality Road after the colt was scratched at the gate in the Classic.

So... Let's review. In the past two Cups, Todd Pletcher has had an inexcusably sloppy medication DQ of Wait a While and a gate SCR of a notoriously edgy horse he failed to school while at Santa Anita... Plus, despite mandatory instruction that all BC horses were to wear name-specific saddlecloths while on track at SA, the Pletcher horses came out daily only with their T.A.P. saddle pads making it impossible for the general public to identify his string unless they were familiar with their markings... Then of course there's his warm, winning personality when dealing with the public, media and track personnel...

He's a real asset to the game.

randallscott35 · #26 11-10-2009, 06:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kasept

From Hegarty's piece:

Kirchner also said Breeders' Cup lost a sizeable portion of the $2.2 million in bets that were refunded on Quality Road after the colt was scratched at the gate in the Classic.

So... Let's review. In the past two Cups, Todd Pletcher has had an inexcusably sloppy medication DQ of Wait a While and a gate SCR of a notoriously edgy horse he failed to school while at Santa Anita... Plus, despite mandatory instruction that all BC horses were to wear name-specific saddlecloths while on track at SA, the Pletcher horses came out daily only with their T.A.P. saddle pads making it impossible for the general public to identify his string unless they were familiar with their markings... Then of course there's his warm, winning personality when dealing with the public, media and track personnel...

He's a real asset to the game.

Yep. He thinks he's Belichick.

johnny pinwheel · #27 11-10-2009, 07:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 10 pnt move up

1. The people that run racing are for the most part....not very smart.

2. The people that run the Breeders Cup make the people in #1 look like brain surgeons in comparison.

The BC used to be 7 races for a lot of money, it was special to win one of these races, there are 14 now. Seriously, to me its the original 7, maye the FM Turf as well, but the rest dont carry BC weight with me, they are the under card races.

The FM Sprint for example, all it has done is watered down the sprint, the two or three best fillies would compete with the Sprint...and they won!

The Dirt Mile has taken away horses from the classic (this year maybe the exception).

The Turf juveniles, all it did was water down the regular juvenile races.

Just moronic decisions, and that has nothing to do with location. I am sure when its 40 degrees and raining next year your going to hear the same stuff. And heaven forbid if anyone gets hurt (the past 2 years no one has).

good ideas, i agree with everything but the dirt mile. the dirt mile is a pretty good event. the rain did not bother me at monmouth, at least the races were formful and dirt horses could win. it was one of my best "cup" weekends. and i bet way more than the last two. rain is part of the deal in racing. this effort to make it all synthetic is a big mistake, horses run in mud they run on grass they run on dirt. its been that way since they were a breed on earth. whats next, running indoors on pillow feathers?

randallscott35 · #28 11-10-2009, 07:19 AM

I'm guessing they'll be adding a Breeders Cup race for Mules soon, as well as one for Quarter horses.

2Hot4TV · #29 11-10-2009, 07:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VOL JACK

Speaking of stupid, Greg Ravioli said on the Jim Rome show Friday that 'RA had no excuse for not running in the B Cup because she ran one of her best races on poly at KEE.' I almost wrecked my truck.

she had a good excuse, not wanting to be beaten by Zenyatta.

Sightseek · #30 11-10-2009, 08:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kasept

From Hegarty's piece:

Kirchner also said Breeders' Cup lost a sizeable portion of the $2.2 million in bets that were refunded on Quality Road after the colt was scratched at the gate in the Classic.

So... Let's review. In the past two Cups, Todd Pletcher has had an inexcusably sloppy medication DQ of Wait a While and a gate SCR of a notoriously edgy horse he failed to school while at Santa Anita... Plus, despite mandatory instruction that all BC horses were to wear name-specific saddlecloths while on track at SA, the Pletcher horses came out daily only with their T.A.P. saddle pads making it impossible for the general public to identify his string unless they were familiar with their markings... Then of course there's his warm, winning personality when dealing with the public, media and track personnel...

He's a real asset to the game.

Sorry Steve, you're being a bit unfair here....

Pletcher said that he schooled Quality Road in the gate several times, hoping that something like this would happen during those sessions so they could address the problem, but he schooled fine. You can prepare all you want, but a number of things can upset a horse...

randallscott35 · #31 11-10-2009, 08:25 AM

I think Steve was commenting more on Pletcher's above it all attitutde.

parsixfarms · #32 11-10-2009, 08:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sightseek

Sorry Steve, you're being a bit unfair here....

Pletcher said that he schooled Quality Road in the gate several times, hoping that something like this would happen during those sessions so they could address the problem, but he schooled fine. You can prepare all you want, but a number of things can upset a horse...

I thought that Pletcher said the horse was schooled several times at Belmont, so I think Steve's statement is correct.

Sightseek · #33 11-10-2009, 09:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by parsixfarms

I thought that Pletcher said the horse was schooled several times at Belmont, so I think Steve's statement is correct.

Yes, but he also made it sound like he didn't do anything with the horse, which I thought was unfair. Whether you like Pletcher's personality or not he's a hard working and organized guy and I have a feeling it didn't matter where Quality Road was schooled because he got it in his head that day that he wasn't happy.

http://www.drf.com/news/article/108840.html
Quality Road never had the chance to prove his ability over Santa Anita's Pro-Ride surface. He freaked out at the gate and had to be scratched after he suffered a cut on the gaskin, the region between the stifle and the hock, in a rear leg that required stitches. Pletcher said Quality Road had three problem-free schooling sessions at Belmont Park before he left.

"We tried to challenge him a bit, put him with other horses, back him out, put him in [with] rider on, rider off, try to get him to misbehave so maybe we could figure out if he were to misbehave what we could do different," Pletcher said. "Basically, in three sessions here he never so much as hesitated."

Antitrust32 · #34 11-10-2009, 09:29 AM

^ agreed. Its silly to think Todd Pletcher wouldnt have his horse completely prepared for the Breeders Cup Classic. It may be easy to root against his horses and he may not be a Dutrow personality type guy, but its obvious he works as hard as anyone in the business.

$hit happens and t-breds are crazy animals.

#35 11-10-2009, 09:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sightseek

Sorry Steve, you're being a bit unfair here....

Pletcher said that he schooled Quality Road in the gate several times, hoping that something like this would happen during those sessions so they could address the problem, but he schooled fine. You can prepare all you want, but a number of things can upset a horse...

Like the fact he had to switch barns and his new trainer is a corpse?

Kasept · #36 11-10-2009, 10:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sightseek

Sorry Steve, you're being a bit unfair here....

Pletcher said that he schooled Quality Road in the gate several times, hoping that something like this would happen during those sessions so they could address the problem, but he schooled fine. You can prepare all you want, but a number of things can upset a horse...

He didn't school at Santa Anita with the gate crew that was going to be handling him for the first time. Schooling him at Belmont three times is meaningless. It's new situations that 'challenge' a problem horse. But Todd knows best... After all, he's intimately familiar with all 386 horses under his supervision.

randallscott35 · #37 11-10-2009, 12:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stonegossard

Who is a bigger asset to the game....Pletcher or Wolfson ? You seem to want to defend a guy who has over and over again been caught cheating and bad for the game, but then trash Pletcher?

Very odd Steve.

Give me a break. Pletcher has been suspended as well.

reese · #38 11-10-2009, 01:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stonegossard

Who is a bigger asset to the game....Pletcher or Wolfson ? You seem to want to defend a guy who has over and over again been caught cheating and bad for the game, but then trash Pletcher?

Very odd Steve.

Not as "odd" as declaring Barry Abrams a "genius"

TouchOfGrey · #39 11-10-2009, 01:58 PM

Quote:

How can you place all of the blame on Pletcher for the gate scratch ? Don't you think the huge crowd had something to do with it ? The horse wigged out. It happens ALL the time in racing. Relax. If anyone should get blamed for the gate scratch it's probably the gate crew. But again....things like this happen.

A horse's behavior is a reflection of it's training, and Quality Road needs a lot more schooling at the gate before his next start. This is not the first time he's acted up, and the gate crew shouldn't have to risk their lives more than they already do because the horse isn't prepared properly.

It was a seriously lucky thing no one was hurt.

JerseyJ · #40 11-10-2009, 03:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TouchOfGrey

A horse's behavior is a reflection of it's training, and Quality Road needs a lot more schooling at the gate before his next start. This is not the first time he's acted up, and the gate crew shouldn't have to risk their lives more than they already do because the horse isn't prepared properly.

It was a seriously lucky thing no one was hurt.

I didn't realize that these animals always do as they are told and instructed to...I didn't realize they are machines. You could do all the training and schooling in the world, and sometimes the horse doesn't listen or want to do what you are looking for it to do. I think it's absolutely foolish to pin the blame on Pletcher for the horse acting up behind the gate. Last I looked Quality Road wasn't disguised as Pletcher. And if a horse's behavior is a reflection of it's training, I'll throw this out there, an NFL team is preparing to go play in lets say Indianapolis, and all week they practice with a ton of crowd noise, and they work on making sure the offensive line is on the same page with regard to false starts, and then come Sunday, they have 6 false starts in Indianapolis, even though they dedicated extra time towards working with snap counts and to avoid false starts, is that a reflection of their training or is that something out of the coaches hands, very much like Quality Road's gate actions were out of Pletcher's hands.