Rags To Riches

[Chuckles_the_Clown2]

I dont know what 5 of 6 paid. But congrats. 3 deep eh? Well if they were the top 3 you handicapped it well.

I would strongly advise Plech to have one more prior to the Distaff too, but I don\'t think he\'s going to. He\'s gonna take her to the barn and try to \"fix her up\".

As far as walking away from them upon a move up in competition, I really don\'t think that is in the cards. Some think this filly is remarkable. I do not and I\'m gonna get her next time.

 shanahan Wrote:
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> Rags was a sick filly and how often do they come
> back to win first out after the layoff?  Not often
> - I can\'t remember any...betting wise, it was a
> situation where you had to have a backup (even
> though the obvious alternative was only 2/1).  She
> will race before the BC, and then run the
> Distaff...winning by a very wide margin. She won\'t
> go in the Classic since her trainer already has
> that one wrapped up...my pik 6 post had 5/6, and
> that\'s why I had 3 deep in her race.  Good luck
> tomorrow.

[marcus]

You raise some valid questions - but nobody really knows . Still , I personally don\'t believe the Belmont fluke scenario and haven\'t been persuaded otherwise . LP ran an excellent effort yesterday and take nothing away from the \'Princess - she earned that win . IMO  R2R has a good shot to take the BC Distaff or Classic  providing she\'s not more than 3 1/2 back coming into the MTH stretch and is % 105 healthy ...

[cubfan0316]

fix er up, too funny.hows the testing in jersey?

[fkach]

I think it was obvious that her fitness was a question mark going into the race after missing training twice since the Belmont.  TP was pretty much forced to run her in order to get a prep into her prior to the BC. All that said, I think it was a good performance by a short horse, but disappointing in that I believe she has the potential for greatness. As a fan, I was hoping for a win.

[Rick B.]

cubfan0316 Wrote:
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> fix er up, too funny.hows the testing in jersey?

Funny -- I was just going to ask this very same thing.

It\'s been said elsewhere that when a track hosts the BC, the BC org. takes over \"everything\", and runs the show themselves. Does anyone know if this is true for backstretch security, urine samples, etc.?

My opinion is that Monmouth is a little on the \"loose\" side (if you know what I mean)...not \"Delaware Park loose\", but loose just the same. Can we expect the presence of the BC to tighten things up there?

[Chuckles_the_Clown2]

fkach Wrote:
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> I think it was obvious that her fitness was a
> question mark going into the race after missing
> training twice since the Belmont.  TP was pretty
> much forced to run her in order to get a prep into
> her prior to the BC. All that said, I think it was
> a good performance by a short horse, but
> disappointing in that I believe she has the
> potential for greatness. As a fan, I was hoping
> for a win.

Well theres all kinds of ways to look at things. Plech is a very good trainer off the layoff. He really doesn\'t race horses into form. I have some strong ideas as to why that is true, but he had Rags pointed to at least 2 other races before this one and wanted to be sure he had her fit so he deferred to this spot. Now when by all appearances another prep would very much be in order, he\'s gonna stick to his modus operandi and train her up to the Breeders Cup. Another 6 weeks off or 2 races in 20 weeks. Go Get Em Plech!!!

I thought she came home well and really couldn\'t come home any quicker unless she ran slower early as she did in the Belmont Stakes. What folks have to hope for is that the weight and two turns are gonna make a significant difference, but I\'m 100% confident that what you saw of Rags Saturday not factoring those variables was as good as its gets for that filly.

Bring on the Distaff!

On the other hand, I agree 100% with your evaluation of what the Monk\'s race means. Something is going on in River City.

[richiebee]

Rick and Cub:

Reading this board, with all the posters who are close to the game, most of the
performance enhancement in racing is allegedly accomplished through the use of
steroids (not illegal?), blood doping or packing (not illegal?) and designer
pain meds, the creators of which are usually a few years ahead of any effective
testing.

We always read about enhanced testing at Breeders Cup events. Has a BC runner
ever tested positive? And, before anyone gets excited about the level BC
playing field, just a reminder that Patrick Byrne, Doug O\'Neill and Richard
Dutrow are a combined 9 for 21 in BC events.

Every year I state my belief that the Breeder\'s Cup should be run in Europe
every fifth year or so, with all events to be run on the grass. One advantage
of this would be that we would get to see drug free racing, because we are all
repeatedly told that the Euros race their horses \"cold turkey\".

[fkach]

TP is a good layoff trainer, but this wasn\'t a scheduled layoff. This was a layoff caused by \"question marks\" about her physical well being and because she spiked a fever. There\'s a huge difference. It\'s true he skipped the last race to get her more fit, but IMO, if given a choice, he would have given her even more time. He simply needed to get a race into her before the BC.  It would have been nuts to go in just off works.

>I thought she came home well and really couldn\'t come home any quicker unless she ran slower early as she did in the Belmont Stakes. What folks have to hope for is that the weight and two turns are gonna make a significant difference, but I\'m 100% confident that what you saw of Rags Saturday not factoring those variables was as good as its gets for that filly.<

I think you are underestimating her quality leading up to and including the Belmont (even though we probably agree on some matters about the Belmont). Barring all the recent setbacks, I might have even expected her to be even better now than in the spring and early summer. I have no idea if she\'ll go forward or not from here in the BC, but I think she\'s capable of a lot better than yesterday on her best even without any development.

[fkach]

>>Didn\'t like the way she was moving down the lane.<<

Good call Barry.