Rags to Riches confirmed for Belmont
 

http://www.drf.com/news/article/85528.html

NT

We needed this. Fantastic news.

Goes from 5 Derby Colts to his only lady. This must hurt the ego. Now for that weak field of philly's she faced all year. :)

sweet.
Makes the race a lot more interesting.

:o

I am just glad that he isn't running Sam P.
If he did:
I would fall in love with the horse's great 12f pedigree.
I would see that the horse has a great running style for this race.
I would watch the replays of the Santa Anita Derby and the Kentucky Derby and realize that he ran deceptively decent races in both of those starts.
I would bet him heavily in the race at odds that thrilled me.
I would watch him finish 5th.

Good for Pletcher. I'm not her biggest fan but he stuck to his guns and said if only two of the top three go he'd send her. Maybe this is what he needs to break through in the TC...?

Adds a little intrigue to an otherwise very dull race.

This filly was the only real chance he had at any of the triple crown races. Hes the only one that couldnt see that

And this is the only one she had a REAL chance in. Anybody want to wager a guess on her odds at post time? I'll guess 4-1.

I think you will find around here, this is not true. Early on, nobody even thought she belonged with the boys, and only raced against weak fields. With only 3 races prior to the big events, who could blame them.

I wouldn't be so sure that Todd didn't think she was the most talented before the Derby. He's a pretty smart guy and has a very good handle on the relative talents of his horses.

Would have liked to see her run in Cal. against the boys though.

no doubt about that.

Facing 19 opponents vs. 13 she towered over had to figure into his Derby decision on such a lightly raced filly.

I guess Todd didn't think it was necessary....and considering he almost won the Santa Anita Derby with King of the Roxy it's hard to say he made the wrong decision. While one could easily argue he shouldn't subvert one owner's best interests for another I would say in this case if Coolmore wanted Rags to Riches in the Santa Anita Derby she would have run.

All things considered she probably would have won.

Will I get 5-1?

I dont know about that, but Curlin just went up from 2/5 to 4/5

Ill take Tiago, the only horse with a chance to beat Curlin

I think Rags to Riches has a better shot to beat Curlin than Tiago.....not that either is impossible.

I agree that she is the best 3yo in his barn right now (that can run 12f), however I still think AGS will be a useful stakes horse, if he ever gets the mental side. I glad he chose to run her in that it will help make this the showcase day it deserves to be for all of the game. I really wasn't going to wager on the race until now. Thanks TODD!

I thought It made too much sense not to run her....

I have something of a suspicion that Pletcher probably believed that the biggest drawback to running her, was that he'd be losing what looked like a strong hand for a Acorn-Mother Goose training sweep, with his two best 3yo fillies. He's left with a MUCH weaker hand at that sweep now...

But, when you're in the position he's in...the reality is...if you have a horse that's good enough to win a Classic in the Triple Crown series, it's just too hard to not take a chance.

He'll have the favorite in both of them anyways, albeit not an overwhelming choice like Rags would have been in the Mother Goose.