Quality Road's schedule
 

I heard Steve Allday mention yesterday on ATR that Zenyatta, as great as she is, doesn't want any part of Quality Road this year. Tongue in cheek or not, it got me to thinking, what the hell is QR doing in the barn for so long then? Almost four months off after the Donn? Then what, the Woodward if we're lucky? I understand the horse has had foot issues in the past, but he's on pace for a six-race campaign, which should be unacceptable for an aspiring champion.

four was all it took for ghostzapper.

I was thinking the same thing the other day, they're really treating him (QR) with "kid gloves".......one step goes wrong, it's to the breeding shed. Guess he's fragile as eggs!

Why doesn't it surprise me that you think 2 + 4 = 7?

Or 2 + 5 = 8?

Since the Donn, name one prestigious race he could have won that would have helped his HotY campaign?
The connections are taking the exact same approach to the year that I would have done.
Personally, from fan's prospective, I wish he would run in the Foster at CD against possibly Zenyatta and Rachel. From the connection's perspective, the Met Mile is a much better race to win to form a Stallion resume.

I suspect his 'schedule' depends on the 'schedule' (availability) of the high grade elixir (and doctored tracks).

Why is it surprising that he'd only run six, seven, eight times? That's iron horse-like compared to some of his contemporaries.

While Quality Road has won going nine furlongs, both races were at Gulfstream Park, where he obviously thrives.

I think going a one-turn mile is more up his wheelhouse and the Met Mile makes a ton of sense. This is not to say he cannot handle nine furlongs in a race like the Stephen Foster, but I think the Met Mile is a neat race, with a lot of tradition, and is a great next spot.

QR was given a bit of time not only because of the hole in the schedule in March and April but because they hadn't really stopped on him since last July, so he had earned a bit of a rest. Especially the way horses are handled nowadays.

NT

If I were trainer he would run every week at Gulfstream and about two times the rest of the year.

The Oaklawn Handicap that went to effing Duke of Mischief, perhaps? The New Orleans H. is better than nothing as well. I love it how people constantly say we have too many stakes races, then when somebody skips 2-3 months with a horse, many of those same people go "well where could he have run?"

You mean that Grade II race in Arkansas, that back in the late 80s and early 90s had a lot of excellent horses win it, but not that many since then? That Oaklawn Handicap?

Yep. What a shi!t race.

In the last decade alone it has attracted only BC Classic winners, Dubai World Cup winners, Donn Handicap winners (go figure), Strub winners, Big Cap winners, Woodward winners, Whitney winners, Pimlico Special winners, etc.

How about the Grade 1 Carter at 7f instead?

What does a Grade II race do for him, for HOY or breeding?

Jesus, what a non-issue.

That is to say, what does racing do for his HOY chances or his campaign towards the breeding shed?

Oh noes! A Grade II! Surely that would've severely damaged QR's pride and turned his stud value into a negative billion dollars.

That's not what I said, so spare me your "that is to say" BS.

A grade II race is insignificant to him. If he needed a race as a prep, they work. Otherwise, who gives a damn?

Another idiot heard from.

No one said that, except the imaginary person you are debating (they are so much easier to convince!).

The point is a Grade II does zero for him, not that it hurts him.

Nobody else of note showed up for the damn race, either, by the way.

With fragile animals and the "sheet" guys making their case, you just aren't going to see anyone run 10 graded races like Cigar did in the mid 90's.

And my point is that top racehorses' campaigns shouldn't be restricted to just 100-year-old Grade I's that attract superstars annually. Running the horse because he's fit and good would probably be fun too.

I believe when Cigar won the Oaklawn, it was a Grade 1.

No doubt on that. But the game is not about "fun" that much, especially nowadays, especially at that level.

Apparently, you also believe everything the Graded Stakes Committee tells you.

Can't wait for the Eclipse Awards.

That's when the real racing begins.

Does your brain have a short half-life or something? Every subsequent post is dumber than the previous one.

Good point. 5 or so more from me, and I should have sunk to your level.

Tag-team morons on a horsey forum. Gee, I've never seen that before. How novel.

Oy.

Yeah. Two people that don't buy into your BS. It must be a conspiracy.

Not sure why you're even posting right now seeing how the next significant (ie Grade 1) race isn't until the Kentucky Oaks.

Maybe you can go suck on a lollipop in the meantime...

I'd go along with that and the other poster who said that the horse (who clearly has issues) hadn't really had a break since last summer.

But to say that the Oaklawn is insignificant merely because its a Grade 2 is as preposterous as it gets. Pletcher won the race (while it was a Grade 2) with Lawyer Ron, who later went on a tear and ultimately won the Eclipse as champion handicap horse the same season.

Coincidentally, Pletcher had no problem running Lawyer Ron in the Met Mile in his next start following his Oaklawn win (IIRC he was 3rd to Corinthian).

^^^^

Ateam

Yes, but......Lawyer Ron was burned out by the end of his campaign. Pletcher will err on the side of caution in picking QR's spots to see if he can baby him along until November.

He was? Why, because he ran a dud in a total swamp at Monmouth? Before that, he ran:

3rd in Met Mile, beaten 1 1/2 by easy BC Dirt Mile winner
2nd in Salvator Mile, beaten neck by MTH lover
1st in Whitney, setting a track record
1st in Woodward
2nd in Jockey Club Gold Cup, beaten head by HOY

Clearly, the Oaklawn Handicap did him in.

but only because it was a gr 2...

I didn't say Oaklawn did him in, but he was tailing off his last couple after blowing up in the Whitney/Woodward, at least there is evidence that was the case. Duplicating either of those would have beaten Curlin and probably given him HOY honors.

He ran a 114 Beyer in the JCGC and lost by a head to the HOY. That's tailing off? He ran a dud in the bog at MTH, that's the only bad race he ran all year. There's no evidence that he tailed off.

Lawyer Ron's last 2 races were at a mile and a quarter. This was not his best distance. He ran well in the JCGC, until the last 8th.

What were the two beyers before the jcgc?

117 in the Whitney, 119 in the Woodward. The JCGC Beyer was the third-highest of his career, going an eighth further than he was used to.

4-year-old year only: