Training Question

[King Glorious]

I was just reading about the trainer for St. John's River saying he was prepping his horse Thursday and then would decide later if she would point to the Personal Ensign or the Ballerina. This race Thursday is at 9f. The Personal Ensign is also at 9f on 8/26 and the Ballerina is at 7f on 8/24. So here is my question. What is important to you as a trainer? Is it deciding on a schedule and doing everything you can with your horse to get them ready for that race and then sending them out there regardless of the competition? Or is it picking out the softest spots?

I just found this interesting because the two races he's looking at are totally different races. Not just the different competition but the style/type of race she'd have to run to be effective in either one. It would seem to me that if he was considering the Ballerina, he'd do different things with her as far as her preparations than if he's looking at the Personal Ensign. I think that if I were in that position, the most important thing would be to figure out what my horse does best and focus on that and map out a schedule that best fits what she does. I've always felt that you train your horse to be at their best and run the races you want to run in and not worry about the competition. If you feel like at your best, your horse is not up to a certain level of competition, find the proper level. I just feel like it's not working in your horse's best interest to keep adjusting what you are asking them to do based on what other people are doing with their horses. Or sometimes, as is often the case with big barns like Pletcher and Baffert or in a situation like the one with Successful Dan and Wise Dan, I think trying to juggle your own horses schedules based on other horses in your barn.