Back on the Work Tab today. Pletch said he has 5 more Works before the big race. I know there are doubters about this around 2 Turns and at the Classic distance. But he is gonna be fresh and certainly fast enough.
Maybe he is just another Precisionist. Maybe he is another Ghostzapper at 5/2....
Think QR and Rachel may need to grow an extra 1/16 of a mile or so in range to seriously threaten in the Classic.
Will be very interesting to see where they send Rachel,if not the Classic, why did they bother to bring her back at 4?
Mike
I am with Silver on Quality Road, I think he\'s going to be very dangerous.
He fires best when fresh and on his best, there\'s no one even close to as fast as him.
I see Rachael as more distance limited than Quality Road both in terms of pedigree and running style.
In terms of why they brought her back if she wasn\'t going to run in the classic, I think they thought she would be alot better than she is this year. She\'s still great (at least measured by TGs) but one thing we can\'t debate is that she didn\'t progress from 3 to 4 like some do. Obviously she just matured early and got to her level earlier but I don\'t think that\'s what the connections had in mind when they brought her back.
Cov,
Agree on Rachel,not the same horse as at 3,regardless of what her numbers are.
On QR,I\'ll disagree off his last and the last 1/8th.Love them or not, Blame and Zenyatta should get the trip and will be there late, assuming they fire their best shot. Not a fan of either though.
Felt QR would become freaky this year when his feet got better, but he really did not.His last race was very ordinary,a no excuse loss. Regardless of TAP\'s comments, the barn was in shock QR got beat. The comments of owner Evans bemoaning QR\'s \"trip\" qualify as a joke.
The classic should be a great race and Rachel would add enormous value to the race from a gambling standpoint. I feel this years Rachel is a Classic toss,even at CD.
Mike
Can\'t disagree with Mike on any of his points. I\'ll be surprised if Rachel shows up in the Classic. Her and QR represent a real death match on the front end, any way you slice it they are both on the front end for a pretty strong 9 furlongs at least. I don\'t like Rachel to get the 10 furlongs at all, but if the track comes up really wet, I would give her a slugger\'s chance, but I think the distance still beats her.
Rachel a very legit threat to win the Distaff, so that\'s probably gotta be where they place her. The Classic represents a race where she likely gets drilled in the stretch.
I\'m almost thinking those big negatives earlier have taken a toll on QR. Even when he comes back from the long freshening, I still think he\'s now over the top.
If he were on top of his game, no way Blame comes and gets him as happened earlier.
Z\'s been rolling along. Never throwing impressive numbers, just keeps finding a way to get it done. I know the Classic has been the total focus ever since they un-retired her. I don\'t question her ability to come flying late, just the trip and the traffic present the biggest problem. I think her connections may prove again you don\'t have to prep at 10 furlongs to win at 10 furlongs. She\'ll be plenty fresh on November 6th. Could make for a really interesting race if it were to get real wet that day.
His last was a win I believe, though it was ordinary.
Would like to see Blame and QR on equal weights with a decent pace before pronouncing the former a clear winner.
If QR\'s feet were not quite right at Saratoga I would believe it. His stride was just not visually a thing of beauty. He was asked to punch at the top of the lane and didn\'t punch.
Before somebody says \"well that was Gulfstream\" anybody who saw him in the Donn knows an effort like that and people are running for 2nd money.
And he has only run THREE times since.....