Watchmaker referenced some comments about Pletcher and Awesome Maria in that blog post, and how Pletcher blamed himself. Thought it'd be interesting to compare Todd's pre-race comments to Dave Grening and post-race...
Pre-race DRF article about Ogden Phipps.
“Everything she’s done the last six starts, we’re hoping for more of
the same,” said Todd Pletcher, who trains Awesome Maria for Joyce
Robsham. “We know this is a very, very tough race. I have a lot of
respect for It’s Tricky and the other ones in there.
“Anytime you carry 124 pounds, you get a little nervous with that
impost,” Pletcher continued. “At the same time, she’s deserving of
topweight, given all of her success and her six-race winning streak.
We hope it can continue.”
http://www.drf.com/news/belmont-park...hipps-handicap
Post-race DRF article about Ogden Phipps
Todd Pletcher, the trainer of Awesome Maria, took the blame for his
mare's dull effort. "I think I did a really poor job preparing her for this race,"
Pletcher said. "We stayed in Florida too long, got rained on a lot,
missed a couple of works down there. Then I tried to make up for it
here and breezed her on a sloppy track . . . It wasn't her fault. I'll
take the blame for it."
http://www.drf.com/news/belmont-park...ob-done-phipps
I wonder if Awesome Maria would've been favored had Pletcher suggested she missed some works (as opposed to a slight freshening), then tried to make up for it, etc. Look, you can see in the form she didn't have a published work for a month after the Rampart win...but does it all suggest she was hurried?
At least all the TVG coverage from Hollyhump over the weekend made it incredibly clear that you should avoid Rail Trip at all costs in the Los Angeles. Now, granted, Rail Trip was never going to be say, 4-5, but Ron Ellis did everything possible to talk people off the horse, and an interview with Samantha Siegel did the same.