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

[Sightseek]

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]

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

[parsixfarms]

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]

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]

^ 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.

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]

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.