Travers Buzz: Quality Road a yes..

[the_fat_man]

Originally Posted by NTamm1215

The difference is that Quality Road was a good horse before Pletcher got him. Lawyer Ron was a wayward minor graded stakes competitor.

I've always subscribed to the theory that Lawyer Ron needed a stronger rider and a more relaxed regimen and he got that moving to Pletcher's barn.

NT

Stronger rider? He ate Johnny V up in the race at BEL (against Curlin).

Here's the deal with Pletcher (and Johnny V):

when his horses win with those ridiculous WIDE, NO COVER trips, then they're strongly handled and reveling in the 'relaxed regimen'

when they collapse, like typical horses would, as a result of these trips

it must be that they're not getting the strong handling or reveling in the relaxed regimen

For a good example of how horses typically run with the patented Johnny V trip (when not riding for Pletcher) check out any of Patrick Husbands' rides up at WO. And I do mean, 'ANY'.

[NTamm1215]

Originally Posted by the_fat_man

Stronger rider? He ate Johnny V up in the race at BEL (against Curlin).

Here's the deal with Pletcher (and Johnny V):

when his horses win with those ridiculous WIDE, NO COVER trips, then they're strongly handled and reveling in the 'relaxed regimen'

when they collapse, like typical horses would, as a result of these trips

it must be that they're not getting the strong handling or reveling in the relaxed regimen

For a good example of how horses typically run with the patented Johnny V trip (when not riding for Pletcher) check out any of Patrick Husbands' rides up at WO. And I do mean, 'ANY'.

Lawyer Ron was headstrong no matter what but he was certainly more relaxed for Pletcher and JV. The two races LR ran at Saratoga remain somewhat enigmatic given that he was perfectly tractable and did whatever JV wanted with the typical JV trip.

To get back to your original point though, there's no magic elixir being given to QR in my opinion because he was already good.

NT

[the_fat_man]

Originally Posted by NTamm1215

To get back to your original point though, there's no magic elixir being given to QR in my opinion because he was already good.

NT

This remains to be determined, given his performance in the Travers. How much better did he project after the FD than Dunkirk?