QR off 4 months?

[joanied]

SCOTT: Quality Road won't race again for nearly four months

The above is a headline from Paulick's Report dated 2/9...I just got around to reading it...but I couldn't find the story that goes to the headline...
does anyone have info on this?

Why would they stop on him for 4 months...that's a long break after just coming back from another long break...

[johnhannibalsmith]

http://www.saratogian.com/articles/2010/02/09/sports/doc4b70e1b5eb23c341525961.txt

[Hanover1]

Did not read the report-a quarter crack (again) perhaps?? Known to have bad wheels.....

[cj's dad]

Did not read the report-a quarter crack (again) perhaps?? Known to have bad wheels.....

It takes 90 seconds

[BirdstoneFTW]

What I read is that QR is ducking the top horses :lol: :lol: :lol:

[dutzman]

At this level, the name of the game is not 'racing' anymore. This is a stallion making business. The fact is, he is just too valuable as a stallion to have a campaign of 8 or 9 races. He will probably run 3 more times before the Classic. He is too valuable to run a campaign the fans want to see.

[DRIVEWAY]

Excerpt:
According to trainer Todd Pletcher, Quality Road won’t race again for nearly four months, with his next start scheduled for the Met Mile on Memorial Day weekend. If all goes well, he will then race twice at Saratoga (in the Whitney Handicap and Woodward Stakes) and in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Churchill Downs.

Jess Jackson will have a little competition on his way to retiring the WOODWARD CUP. This could be a major league race.

[Bettowin]

Excerpt:
According to trainer Todd Pletcher, Quality Road won’t race again for nearly four months, with his next start scheduled for the Met Mile on Memorial Day weekend. If all goes well, he will then race twice at Saratoga (in the Whitney Handicap and Woodward Stakes) and in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Churchill Downs.

Jess Jackson will have a little competition on his way to retiring the WOODWARD CUP. This could be a major league race.

"If all goes well" LOL

What a joke.

[tzipi]

Jess Jackson will have a little competition on his way to retiring the WOODWARD CUP. This could be a major league race.

Mosses will have a little competition this year too on their way this time to the BC. Should be a interesting year.

[Linny]

The Moss' have the option of taking the same path as last year.

As for QR, I agree that his stallion potential is too great to risk running more than a few times. To from the Donn to the Met is a joke IMO. As a racing fan who has now seen how good this colt is, I want to see him take challenges. In the Met he'll face stretchout sprintes. Then he'll skip June and race in late July and again in early Sept and then the BC.

[wisconsin]

All of this talk in the RA-Zenyatta forums about what's better for the horse, blah, blah, blah. You can't tell me that getting a horse ready and then backing off for months at a time are any better for the well being of the horse. I agree the breeding value is there, but I know he's also insured. I sure miss the good old days, when horses actually raced on a regular basis. Today's superstar horses are so closely guarded that they have been made into walking time bombs with glass bones and paper skin.

[Gorgeous George]

a time will come when people get sick of watching the top horses only race 3or 4 times a year. THE SPORT IS DYING :(

[Stevie Belmont]

The goal is the $5 Million Breeders' Cup Classic

2 or 3 more starts—Runs in the Classic if all goes well—then off to the shed

[joanied]

If you read the story from the link provided by johnhannibalsmith, you will see that one reason for the minimal race scheduel for QR is the downgrade/purse structure for the handicap division...

they say there just aren't enough high purse/Grade 1's for the older horses...
now, this may be true...but, IMO, is that good enough reason not to run him more often...
it is sad that purses have gone down for some of the better handicap races...but they are what they are, and to not run a horse like this because he would earn less in said races is pretty pathetic.
If it's for his stallion resume... then I'd think they would be better served to stand a horse that wins more races, rather than earn more money.

And...'they' best do something about upgrading and/or adding moeny to purses for the older division horses...it actually says in the article that there isn't much insentive for owners to keep their colts racing as 4 yr. olds...and that is so wrong I want to spit blood...we fianlly have owners willing to race their horses as 4 yr.olds, and now they can't find enough lucrative spots to run in...bad, bad, bad!!!

[Kimsus]

I suspect the reason here is he needs time to recover, just from what is anyone's educated guess.

[46zilzal]

a time will come when people get sick of watching the top horses only race 3or 4 times a year. THE SPORT IS DYING :(


TAKE AWAY the HUGE two year old purses and pump most of the money in 4 year old and up.

It is so simple: hit in the pocket book and they will have to respond.

When I was in England, I regularly saw fields of 18 to 20 all the time...It can be done

[joanied]

TAKE AWAY the HUGE two year old purses and pump most of the money in 4 year old and up.

It is so simple: hit in the pocket book and they will have to respond.

When I was in England, I regularly saw fields of 18 to 20 all the time...It can be done

:ThmbUp: There ya go....a perfect solution, IMO...Zilly, I didn't think of that...way to go!!

[Tom]

Only problem with that is that those pumping the money don't want to do that. From the owner/breeder side, they want to recoup the investments at 2, not 4. Can't blame them, can't stop them.

Not to go off topic, but it is a market that runs on market actions, not feelings. We want them to race longer, but they hear dollars, not wants.
Money talks, not us.

[Hanover1]

I suspect the reason here is he needs time to recover, just from what is anyone's educated guess.
Where there is smoke......... :ThmbUp: If he is that good right now, most would go on with him at his peak, in the classic duck and cover routine to race selections......keep him race tight......

[Kimsus]

Where there is smoke......... :ThmbUp: If he is that good right now, most would go on with him at his peak, in the classic duck and cover routine to race selections......keep him race tight......

It is a peculiar move by Pletcher isn't it, his horses are running well right now. Certainly his stable is rejuvenated, they must be eating the right oats...and may need more time to recover from fast races.

[Bobby Seller]

who the hell wants to PEAK in feb?

[Moyers Pond]

This is racing's fault. They don't have any races for top older males in the spring. The sport focuses on 3yr olds and assumes the top older males will go to Dubai in March.

There simply is not a race for QR until the Met Mile.

[PhantomOnTour]

No prep in the Carter at Aqu? Straight to the Met Mile? A race thats always loaded with speed and often is a pace bloodbath....hmmm....i'm betting against him on a more tiring Bel surface.

[Relwob Owner]

This is racing's fault. They don't have any races for top older males in the spring. The sport focuses on 3yr olds and assumes the top older males will go to Dubai in March.

There simply is not a race for QR until the Met Mile.



I disagree....the horse has never shown that he can compete on a regular basis and stay helathy. If you are really saying that there are no races for him in the country between now and then, that is an extremely flawed statement. Pletcher ships everywhere and if he wanted to, he could find one

[rastajenk]

Oaklawn Handicap?? Halfway between now and the Met Mile...9 furlongs...why not? In addition to earning some free money, Quality Road could provide some red meat to Handicapping Nation by earning speed and pace numbers on the same track as the other Big Two, just days apart. Any effort there, strong or weak, would really stoke the message board passions for weeks to come.

[Hanover1]

who the hell wants to PEAK in feb?
Some do well in winter vs summer, and vice versa, horses cannot chose when to peak, but by nature will let us know when opportunity is ripe. Early money can be quite lucrative and not as difficult to earn, i.e. run late in the year, and finish off in spring, rest up and come back again.......TC is not the only item on the table.

[Moyers Pond]

I disagree....the horse has never shown that he can compete on a regular basis and stay helathy. If you are really saying that there are no races for him in the country between now and then, that is an extremely flawed statement. Pletcher ships everywhere and if he wanted to, he could find one

Name a grade 1 race he could run in. There isn't one. Horses of this caliber don't waste their time running in races that are not going to increase their value at stud.

They have a brilliant plan to target 4 grade 1 dirt races that will increase his stallion value. The Met Mile is obviously the race they want to win with him.

[Moyers Pond]

Oaklawn Handicap?? Halfway between now and the Met Mile...9 furlongs...why not? In addition to earning some free money, Quality Road could provide some red meat to Handicapping Nation by earning speed and pace numbers on the same track as the other Big Two, just days apart. Any effort there, strong or weak, would really stoke the message board passions for weeks to come.

Put him in a race with 130 pounds so he can earn $300,000 and increase his stallion value zero. No way.

Take him to Belmont and get him ready for the race that every stallion wants on their resume, the Met Mile.

[wisconsin]

Put him in a race with 130 pounds so he can earn $300,000 and increase his stallion value zero. No way.

Take him to Belmont and get him ready for the race that every stallion wants on their resume, the Met Mile.


You mean like the $300,000 he won in the Donn? Sorry, the Donn has failed to impress me recently, and in my opinion is dead-on par with the Oaklawn HCP. Sad to me how the racing scene has turned out. 130 pounds? Great horses have done it, but then again we have the pampered babies of today.

[the Bid]

This is racing's fault. They don't have any races for top older males in the spring. The sport focuses on 3yr olds and assumes the top older males will go to Dubai in March.

There simply is not a race for QR until the Met Mile.


The G1 Stephen Foster at Churchill might suffice.

Dubai is on synthetic now, so most of the east coasters with no synth experience are not as interested. For the SoCal crowd it is a journey too far. The DWC, over the last few years has not really taken much from our racing.

[joanied]

The G1 Stephen Foster at Churchill might suffice.

Dubai is on synthetic now, so most of the east coaster with no synth experience are not as interested. The DWC, over the last few years has not really taken much from our racing.

the Bid...:ThmbUp: there ya go!

[Relwob Owner]

Name a grade 1 race he could run in. There isn't one. Horses of this caliber don't waste their time running in races that are not going to increase their value at stud.

They have a brilliant plan to target 4 grade 1 dirt races that will increase his stallion value. The Met Mile is obviously the race they want to win with him.


Well, targeting everything based on breeding and keeping horses so protected is why it is so hard to follow racing these days.....

Your "breeding is everything" take is flawed in a few senses....first, do you think that it will take away from his value at stud if he wins a race like the Oaklawn Handicap or some other race that helps as a prep for the Met Mile?

Their "brilliant" plan of targeting only 4 Grade 1 races is also an extremely risky one, I believe. The Met Mile is no picnic and will be much more challenging than that "awesome" Donn field, I believe. By targeting only 4 races, they are putting all of their eggs in a very small amount of baskets.....I think this brilliant plan of 4 races could result in a future ad saying "stakes placed in 5 Grade 1's in 2010"

If there are no Grade 1's, dont you think those looking at him for breeding potential will be informed enough to know that he ran in a Grade 2 because there werent any G1's available if that was the case? They will probably also be sharp enough to realize that the Donn the year he won it was a Grade 3 in quality....

In reality, I believe that their "brilliant" plan is a result of them having a horse that is extremely fragile.

[Saratoga_Mike]

In reality, I believe that their "brilliant" plan is a result of them having a horse that is extremely fragile.

Exactly right.

Now if all the big races could just be moved to GP for the balance of the yr, spaced four months apart, and filled with weak fields, he might just display even more greatness.