Tim Ritchey

[JimP]

I thought by now there would have been at least one post about the great training job that Ritchey has done with Afleet Alex. Anybody know the man? What kind of guy is he? It takes courage to march to a different drummer. There aren\'t many of those in the horse racing business.

[beyerguy]

Amen, great job by a guy who laughs at the term \"bounce!\"

[Saddlecloth]

what is the term \"great horses dont bounce\".

but in reality the horse did go backwards for whatever reason, and there are many, using beyers he got a 105

so I see a pattern, 76 108 99 112 105

I couldn\'t be happier about this result and the training method used to achieve it. It demonstrates that a horse can have an extensive 2YO campaign and still run well throughout the Triple Crown if the trainer knows what he is doing.  IMO, the difference between what Ritchey did and what I lot of other trainers have done in the past is that Ritchey worked his horse hard, but not FAST. Some of these guys work their horses 57s, 110s, 123s etc... in the morning and then they wonder why the horse is soon crippled or can\'t hold together for a campaign of more than 4-5 races. In the 70s and early 80s the very best trainers didn\'t kill their horses in the mornings with the speed works that are so common these days. In fact, the few guys that trained that way in the past got the same results that are so common these days - a really sharp horse that fell apart quickly. The idea is to keep you horse very fit, not kill him in the morning trying to get him to peak for a single race or two. If more trainers would rely on slower steadier works with an emphasis on fitness and/or were willing to even consider racing their horses into shape against weaker horses (preps), the very best horses would still be able to put together a 10 or more race campaign. IMO they would earn more money and enhance their reputations too.

The obvious move for AA here is to freshen him up a bit and then start working him towards either the Haskell or Jim Dandy with an eye on the Travers. We don\'t know if he\'ll improve futher or how he\'ll deal with the best older horses, but there no reason barring bad luck this horse can\'t run 4 more top notch races the way Ritchey is is training him.    

[Chuckles_the_Clown2]

JimP Wrote:
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> I thought by now there would have been at least
> one post about the great training job that Ritchey
> has done with Afleet Alex. Anybody know the man?
> What kind of guy is he? It takes courage to march
> to a different drummer. There aren\'t many of those
> in the horse racing business.

Tim Ritchey is a horseman. The talking heads are talking heads. Agreed he did a marvelous job, but he\'s a 30 year journeyman, hes no Johnny drugs lately.


fasteddie Wrote:
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> Great performance! Perhaps the best 3yo not to win
> the Triple Crown since Damascus.

He\'s certainly a good one. Obviously, Alex caught a watered down version of the event however. There was no Bellamania, no Greeley\'s Galaxy, no Bandini, no Scrappy T, no Flower Alley (who is gonna make some waves).

To me the most impressive fact of the Belmont was the calm and mature ride Rose gave Alex. He waited and waited and waited and set him down with 2 marks to go. Thats how you win the Belmont in the modern era. Actually, got a little concerned he waited too long. But the story of this Triple Crown has to be the 3 best classics rides in aggregate that I have ever seen in a Triple Crown year. Rose rode like a champion.

Theres been some good horses to not win the Triple Crown. I\'m not sure where to rate Alex for certain on that. But I\'ll name two that should have won it. Easy Goer and Smarty Jones. Alex caught a combination of factors that did him on Derby Day. Bounce the most significant. He still ran while bouncing though, hes a gamer.

He reminds me of a classy old horse that won in similar off the pace fashion. Little Current.

[P-Dub]

Geez CTC, enough with your Easy Goer stuff. He didn\'t win the TC because he ran into a better horse. Don\'t start with the excuses or we could probably add another 30 horses to your \"should have won the TC\" list. Let it go already.

Agreed that its a stretch to say he\'s the best 3yo since Damascus to not win all 3, Spectacular Bid being the most obvious one. Although the last couple races didn\'t have the best of fields, the style with which Alex dominated warrants much respect. I\'m looking forward to his next few races which should have better and deeper fields. Hard not to root for a horse like this.

[Chuckles_the_Clown2]

I rate my own 3YO\'s and I\'m pretty good at it. I have had Alex rated 1st or 2nd ever since the Champagne. This is my opinion. Not gonna say its scientific fact, but there is some empirical data to it. I can only go back to 1973 on following horses, because thats when I started following them. Since that time theres been a few that should have won the Triple. I rate them in the order I rank their ability vs. their respective crops:

Spectacular Bid
Easy Goer
Smarty Jones
Afleet Alex
Silver Charm
Risen Star
Real Quiet
Little Current

If you want to say Sunday Silence bested Easy Goer, its true. But Easy Goer was a much better horse by all measures except Mud, a horrible ride by Patient Pat and Fate. Sunday Silence never had a prayer at the Triple and was dog meat to get 10 marks on a fair track.

The Breeders Cup Classic needs to be 12 marks. The best horses in racing are not May 3YO\'s. The longer the race the less drugs will overcome a big heart and large lungs. Until American racing gets back to stamina and breeding races the problem can\'t be fully addressed.

P-Dub Wrote:
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> Geez CTC, enough with your Easy Goer stuff. He
> didn\'t win the TC because he ran into a better
> horse. Don\'t start with the excuses or we could
> probably add another 30 horses to your \"should
> have won the TC\" list. Let it go already.
>
> Agreed that its a stretch to say he\'s the best 3yo
> since Damascus to not win all 3, Spectacular Bid
> being the most obvious one. Although the last
> couple races didn\'t have the best of fields, the
> style with which Alex dominated warrants much
> respect. I\'m looking forward to his next few races
> which should have better and deeper fields. Hard
> not to root for a horse like this.

You Easy Goer fans will never get over the fact that Sunday Silence was 3-4 over Easy Goer and the only time he lost it was on Easy Goer\'s home track at 12 furlongs on a track that mysteriously became heavily biased towards outside closers on Belmont Stakes day - not that a certain ownership could have influence over track nmaintenance in NY.

You guys see with your hearts instead of your heads.

SS had greater tactical speed, more brilliance/acceleration, the ability to handle tight turns better,  the versatility to handle wet and dry tracks, and the ability to win around the country instead of just in NY.


Easy Goer was better at 12 furlongs at home on a tiring track and occasionally put up a very fast figure against 3rd string 3YOs and older horses.

[P-Dub]

\"If you want to say Sunday Silence bested Easy Goer, its true. But Easy Goer was a much better horse by all measures except Mud, a horrible ride by Patient Pat and Fate. Sunday Silence never had a prayer at the Triple and was dog meat to get 10 marks on a fair track.\"........CTC

By all measures?? I know you East Coast guys love Easy Goer and it kills you to admit it, but in the measureable known as head to head competition Easy Goer was 1 for 4 and Sunday Silence was 3 for 4. You can blame Day forever but the fact is Easy Goer had the entire length of the stretch to get by SS and couldn\'t do it.  To mention the word dog meat and Sunday Silence in the same sentence lowers your credibility even further. I guess Gulfstream and the Fair Grounds weren\'t fair either??  Is Belmont the only \"fair\" track there is??  Sounds to me that for all the \"greatness\" of EG, you can sure find a lot of excuses for his losses against SS. The only time he beat him was on his home track. Wouldn\'t a truly \"great\" horse overcome these things and still win?? Personal Ensign wasn\'t a mud lover but she found a way to run down Winning Colors. I\'m not saying SS was the greatest 3yo of the past 20 yrs, but to put EG ahead of him on your mythical list is prejudicial and downright ridiculous. You\'re entitiled to your opinion, but I don\'t know what criteria you use to determine these things. BTW, I didn\'t get the fate loss. Please explain.

[MO]

Had the Kentucky Derby been adjudicated like a normal allowance race, Sunday Silence would have been disqualified for nearly putting Northern Wolf over the rail. This is a fact, right from the mouth of former NYRA steward manny Gilman.

When Charlie tried to train SS at Belmont, NYRA said \"FU. You don\'t live here, so you can\'t train here\". So if you reverse these 2 instances, SS might still have a 3-1 edge at the finish line. However, I would like to see the TG figs for both of these horses in their matchups. I\'ll bet EG has better numbers, and in my opinion, he was the better horse.


No triple crown winner has been based outside of NY. Affirmed was the only asterik as he ran at Saratoga as a 2yo and then shipped out to CA. The fact that Afleet Alex had a race or 2 over the Belmont strip as a 2yo was a big plus for him.

I\'m waiting for the other shoe to drop on Ritchie, though. His rep at Delaware has always been that of a drug trainer. Maybe with all the talk about the super trainers going on, maybe they let him slip thru the cracks, being from Delaware, where racing is not taken seriously.

Having better numbers does not always prove who is better. It\'s not how fast you run. It\'s how and who you run fast against.

[Silver Charm]

>When Charlie tried to train SS at Belmont, NYRA said \"FU. You don\'t live here, >so you can\'t train here\". So if you reverse these 2 instances, SS might still >have a 3-1 edge at the finish line.

>No triple crown winner has been based outside of NY.

You seem to be contradicting yourself here. Nevertheless there have only been three Triple Crown winners in the last Fifty years and prior to that there really wasn\'t that much good racing other than in NY.

Was California even a state back then, (some people think it still isn\'t.)

Soon I will probably begin looking at the \"baby races\" at the \"slots tracks\" to see who next years top three year olds will be.


Harthill 3
Easy Goer 1

[MO]

No contradiction if you think SS was the better horse. Had he been allowed to train at Belmont, he might have won, he might have lost. I was just pointing out how dictatorial NYRA can be.

[Chuckles_the_Clown2]

classhandicapper Wrote:
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>
> SS had greater tactical speed

SS was closer to the pace. Easy Goer actually had a quicker turn of foot. You can see it in interior fractions. He was trained for distance and to rate. That was the difference. Look up the Gotham and how it was won.

> brilliance/acceleration

As I said Easy Goer had better accelleration. Quicker internal fractions than SS\'s openers.

 the ability to handle
> tight turns better,  the versatility to handle wet
> and dry tracks, and the ability to win around the
> country instead of just in NY.

SS gasped on the muck Derby and hung on cuz Goer hated Churchill mud

He gasped in the Hollywood Gold Cup and went out a LOSER.

He gasped in the Swaps and got run down by Prized.

He coasted on a greased lightning Hallandale surface and Goer had problems with the trip. His losing effort that day on that surface at Hallandale was one of the all time great efforts.  He should have won by 5. Shug prolly learned a lesson about the Jockey Club Gold Cup, but the Classic has to be 12 marks anything less is a joke and bad for the game. The Dubai Classic also needs to be 12 marks.

> Easy Goer was better at 12 furlongs at home on a
> tiring track and occasionally put up a very fast
> figure against 3rd string 3YOs and older horses.

SS was not fit for more than 10 marks on a speed surface and thats why he spit the bit in the test of champions. Easy Goer would have gone 2.5 miles. SS was all in at 10 marks. He was a good muck and speed surface horse.

[P-Dub]

>He gasped in the Hollywood Gold Cup and went out a LOSER.
He gasped in the Swaps and got run down by Prized.>

These races occurred after he had his knee scoped. He didn\'t seem to be the same horse after.

>He coasted on a greased lightning Hallandale>

You make it sound as though he went wire to wire on a speed favoring track. He sat about 5 lengths off, took the lead turning for home, and held off EG. EG had a very slight hesitation at the break. What problems did he have that day with his trip?? It didn\'t cost him the win.

Whats your fascination with the 12f distance?? Why do you feel that this is the true distance for races?? Because EG was bred for it??  

I don\'t feel you can compare their figs and declare one better than the other. I always thought that true competition meant deciding the winner on the field of play. We\'ve all seen supposedly superior athletes/teams, equine or human, who figured to win a competition but somehow come up short. Happens all the time. If SS beat him in the Derby and EG won the rest you may have a point. But EG won only ONCE and that was at his home track over a biased track.  You don\'t seem to want to mention that, just the supposedly biased GP track. If JB is reading this thread he\'s probably screamimg enough by now so I\'ll stop.  You probably still have your 3 loser tickets on EG too.