Now Quality Road refuses to board plane

[The Devil]

Instead of vanning him back to NY. they should just send him right to south Fla. The starter ( Jeff Powell ) down there will get him to load correctly.

[2Hot4TV]

(From the owner,) Initially, the gate crew handled things what I perceived to be very properly, patting him on the head and neck and reassuring him. He already was agitated and hesitant and they tried to do things in a calm way. Then they went right away to the harsh stuff, like the blindfold. It went from not loading to dangerous pretty quickly.

Get a grip son, I think they should of grabbed both his ear and lip to drag his a s s in and then fined your butt for sending a green race horse to the Classic. How can you blame the gate crew!

[RockHardTen1985]

Originally Posted by 2Hot4TV

(From the owner,) Initially, the gate crew handled things what I perceived to be very properly, patting him on the head and neck and reassuring him. He already was agitated and hesitant and they tried to do things in a calm way. Then they went right away to the harsh stuff, like the blindfold. It went from not loading to dangerous pretty quickly.

Get a grip son, I think they should of grabbed both his ear and lip to drag his a s s in and then fined your butt for sending a green race horse to the Classic. How can you blame the gate crew!

This could very well be the owners fault. This horse had NO gate issues when running for Jimmy Jerkens.

[Travis Stone]

Originally Posted by RockHardTen1985

This could very well be the owners fault. This horse had NO gate issues when running for Jimmy Jerkens.

I can't tell if this is sarcastic.

Folks - these are horses. I just watched a horse on TV scared to step into a small pond. They can be borderline nuts sometimes, much like a lot of people we converse with here!

[NTamm1215]

I really only watch NY racing on a day-to-day basis and all I'll say about the whole thing is that there are usually a number of different things that the NY gate crew try to get an unruly horse in (walking them around, linking arms and pushing, or simply waiting for the horse to calm down) that the gate crew at SA really didn't try.

I, of course, have never tried to put a horse in the starting gate, so my opinion is incomplete, but it did seem like there were more things that could have been tried.

I also can understand that QR should have been schooled at SA but you can't simulate race conditions with a mare loading to his inside.

NT

[Travis Stone]

Originally Posted by NTamm1215

I also can understand that QR should have been schooled at SA but you can't simulate race conditions with a mare loading to his inside.

NT

If it were a dirt track, he would have walked in right away no doubt.

[Sightseek]

There are actually people on Facebook saying he is on cocaine.

[Honu]

Originally Posted by NTamm1215

I really only watch NY racing on a day-to-day basis and all I'll say about the whole thing is that there are usually a number of different things that the NY gate crew try to get an unruly horse in (walking them around, linking arms and pushing, or simply waiting for the horse to calm down) that the gate crew at SA really didn't try.

I, of course, have never tried to put a horse in the starting gate, so my opinion is incomplete, but it did seem like there were more things that could have been tried.

I also can understand that QR should have been schooled at SA but you can't simulate race conditions with a mare loading to his inside.

NT

So you didnt see them when they locked arms behind him and he was full on jack kicking with both hind legs! You didnt see the part where Gilly tried to pet and move him from side to side to get him to budge.
Please step in one day and just try and get a horse to go into the gate that doesnt want to go. If you want to blame someone blame Todd Pletcher for not having the horse schooled prior to the race.
Horses and I mean fully intact male horses most often times in the morning during schooling hours stand in the gate with mare's and filly's and geldings and other studs.
I suggest you watch the whole scene , this horse wasnt going in the gate , and when they finally got him in and he relized it he really went even more over the edge.
So who do you blame for the horse not getting on the plane , the professional horse haulers that are part of the crew or the groom that was with him?
This horse was out of his mind and from what I read this isnt the first time he has been horrible at the gate. The guys that are on this gate crew in So Cali are some of the best there are anywhere , they are horseman and they did the best they could with a bad situation.

[NTamm1215]

Originally Posted by Honu

So you didnt see them when they locked arms behind him and he was full on jack kicking with both hind legs! You didnt see the part where Gilly tried to pet and move him from side to side to get him to budge.
Please step in one day and just try and get a horse to go into the gate that doesnt want to go. If you want to blame someone blame Todd Pletcher for not having the horse schooled prior to the race.
Horses and I mean fully intact male horses most often times in the morning during schooling hours stand in the gate with mare's and filly's and geldings and other studs.
I suggest you watch the whole scene , this horse wasnt going in the gate , and when they finally got him in and he relized it he really went even more over the edge.
So who do you blame for the horse not getting on the plane , the professional horse haulers that are part of the crew or the groom that was with him?
This horse was out of his mind and from what I read this isnt the first time he has been horrible at the gate. The guys that are on this gate crew in So Cali are some of the best there are anywhere , they are horseman and they did the best they could with a bad situation.

I knew it wouldn't be long before someone showed up with the "why don't you try to load a horse into the gate" routine.

I made it clear, I don't ride horses (thank goodness for them), I don't train horses, all I do is bet on horses. I've seen many, many horses act up at the gate before and I thought the gate crew could have done a few things differently. Perhaps the blame falls on Pletcher for not letting him school with that crew. I did think it was funny that Jerry Bailey had a few suggestions on what should be done once QR's initial buffoonery started and of course none of them were tried.

The member of the gate crew who's being applauded for grabbing the reins as QR started walking out of the gate blind-folded deserves a great bit of praise. However, QR being in that situation was incredibly dangerous and a poor decision on someone's part to let disaster almost strike.

NT

[2Hot4TV]

Originally Posted by The Devil

Instead of vanning him back to NY. they should just send him right to south Fla. The starter ( Jeff Powell ) down there will get him to load correctly.

On second thought, they should of put that saddle back on and rode his a s s back to Belmont. I'm sure he would be well mannered and much fitter.

[RockHardTen1985]

A current DRF.com article says the Clark is also under consideration...The pace there would be much softer and I could see him CRUSHING THEM if hes right. It would be a nice step into next year.

[Sightseek]

Originally Posted by RockHardTen1985

A current DRF.com article says the Clark is also under consideration...The pace there would be much softer and I could see him CRUSHING THEM if hes right. It would be a nice step into next year.

I really hope he goes to the Clark!

[RockHardTen1985]

Originally Posted by Sightseek

I really hope he goes to the Clark!

Sarcasim, a shot towards me, or honesty?

[HaloWishingwell]

The horse is not stupid it was a Northwest flight

[Left Bank]

A couple days with Clinton Anderson or Chris Cox,and this horse would be all set to load and then some.

[SCUDSBROTHER]

"You can’t get him to do anything wrong. They tried to get him wound up, bringing in multiple horses and spinning him in circles, anything they can to aggravate him. He’d hesitate and then walk right in. The afternoon is a different story...........................This is a smart horse.."

Smart in an Urban School.

[TouchOfGrey]

Quality Road Arrives at Belmont Park

Quality Road will begin gate schooling on Wednesday with former NYRA starter Bob Duncan, who has worked with a number of bad gate horses over the years. The colt, who balked and kicked at the gate prior to the Jockey Club Gold Cup(gr. I), had extensive gate schooling prior to leaving for California and was no problem, Baker said.

[Sightseek]

Originally Posted by RockHardTen1985

Sarcasim, a shot towards me, or honesty?

No I was being honest.

[The Indomitable DrugS]

I hope Quality Road comes back as a 4yo. He's really starting to look like a what might have been type of horse.

He showed extreme talent in the Derby prep season - especially the Fountain of Youth - his performance in the Fountain of Youth was probably the single most impressive performance by any male horse this year...and perhaps any horse of any gender.

All the foot problems - he comes back and is insanely rushed into making the Travers. He gives a very solid account of himself twice at 10fs even though I believe a one-turn mile is certainly his best race.

He was so interesting in the Breeders Cup Classic because even though his running style was a terrible fit for that Pro-Ride ... his pedigree seemed great for turf/synthetic. And he's a gate scratch.

Jimmy Jerkens is the closest thing to an East Coast version of John Shirreffs. Both having seemingly impeccable reputations ... and suspiciously impressive stats.

Jimmy Jerkens has started 2,455 horses in his training career .. and his ROI is $2.01 ... he's run well enough for Pletcher though.