Flower Alley might be done...

I also am thinking exactly like Rupert, really nothing to add to his comments. The horse was not at 100% fitness but he had a prep race and is obviously much better than that. The reason I immediately felt something was wrong was because he was empty on the turn. A horse of his caliber is not going to be that empty on the turn while stalking a moderate pace. Its not like he was pushing an extremely fast pace and just chucked it.
I'm not so sure that something eas bothering him beforehand though. All clocker accounts I had were that he was working and going extremely well. Noone had him going sore or lame. In addition, like Eurobounce has said, in Kentucky my clocker said he was heavy and not at all fit but up here prior to the race he had really turned into a physical beast. My clocker said he looked extremely good and was a block of muscle who looked great from every aspect.
I'm also puzzled about the juice accusations towards Pletcher in such mass quantities. You know I'm not stupid about suspecting certain people of messing around. In Todd's case I just have to wonder what the accusers are seeing that I am not. On Saturday he went 0-fer again and had the last place finisher in the test(as the favorite no less), a bad loss in Flower Alley to go with a 3rd by West Virginia, a third by a firster, and a 2nd bya miaden(that he should have won) on the grass. He was at least 0-5 and got blaned wednesday-friday as well. He won one on Sunday with a short priced allowance runner and won both the Matchmaker and the Haskell but lost with a short priced horse in an allowance race at monmouth as well(horse was named Spring at Last and he was just awful). If todd is doing so much monkeying pleease explain to me why his percentage up here and down below is the same or lower than it has been all year? Juicers tend to realy get on rolls and win with everything in sight. Todd is sending out a lot of horses who fit from a figure perspective but just aren't firing, yet he is winning some races. It simply can't be both ways. Does he have the most expensive vet work and shoeing and feed and exercise riders that money can buy? Yes. Hes able to do this due to the money his owners have and the massive money making operation he has. But i simply don't see any miracles out of his barn. He spots horses as well as anyone alive and quite frankly hes losing more than his share right now with well spotted horses. If hes working miracles someone needs to clue me in on what they are because quite frankly I pay attention as well as anyone and I'm kind of scratching my head wondering where these miracles are that I am not seeing.

[JJP]

Flower Alley might be the most overrated horse of this century so far. His accomplishment? Beating Bellamy Road in the Travers when, a) BR was running at a distance less than his best, b) there were issues on how fit BR was. Bellamy Road sets a fast pace and runs out of gas so FA inherits the win. In the BC Classic, again almost a paceless race, he happens to be near the front and finishes a non-threatening 4th. I thought the final margin was very deceptive. Saint Liam could've probably dusted him by 10 lengths if he wanted to. So he comes out and beats a small field of nobodies in the Salvatore Mile.......let's face it. This horse was NEVER going to be a legit Horse of the Year candidate.

[prudery]

Originally Posted by JJP

Flower Alley might be the most overrated horse of this century so far. His accomplishment? Beating Bellamy Road in the Travers when, a) BR was running at a distance less than his best, b) there were issues on how fit BR was. Bellamy Road sets a fast pace and runs out of gas so FA inherits the win. In the BC Classic, again almost a paceless race, he happens to be near the front and finishes a non-threatening 4th. I thought the final margin was very deceptive. Saint Liam could've probably dusted him by 10 lengths if he wanted to. So he comes out and beats a small field of nobodies in the Salvatore Mile.......let's face it. This horse was NEVER going to be a legit Horse of the Year candidate.

Flower Alley was SECOND to St. Liam in last year's BC Classic in the race I watched . I am no great fan of this horse, but those are the facts .

[JJP]

To be quite honest, it really doesn't matter if he was 4th or 2nd. They could've run around twenty times and he'd never get close to SL. Like I said earlier, Saint Liam and Bailey could've basically written their winning margin.

[prudery]

Originally Posted by JJP

To be quite honest, it really doesn't matter if he was 4th or 2nd. They could've run around twenty times and he'd never get close to SL. Like I said earlier, Saint Liam and Bailey could've basically written their winning margin.

Probably true, but when one makes an argument, it is less than creditible when them facts is out of order . That said, he was never going to catch St. Liam, and methinks a lot of his hype is due to the second place finish in aforementioned race . Wilko got a lot of hype for his showing in Dubai, and hasn't done squat since .

[Gander]

I would have to agree that while Flower Alley ran a great race to be 2nd and beat some nice older horses, the margin of victory was very deceptive. Lets emphasize that was about as non threatening a 2nd as Roses in May was to Ghostzapper the previous year.

I hope Pletcher gets him back on track and to the BC. Any help on the Lava Man's win price that day would be appreciated. Just how cant you root for the Lava Man?!