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.