Quality Road to go in the Cigar Mile....maybe
DiscreetCat
Moderator
from DRF:
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Quality Road's status for the Grade 1 Cigar Mile on Nov. 28 at Aqueduct has not been decided, trainer Todd Pletcher said Friday morning.
"Don't know yet," Pletcher said at his Belmont Park office. "He will go to Aqueduct Saturday to school in the paddock around 11 a.m., and he'll go in the starting gate around 11:15. He'll probably breeze on Sunday, and we'll see how that goes."
Owned by Edward Evans, Quality Road threw a fit before the $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic, balking at loading into the gate and cutting himself, necessitating a scratch.
Several days later, he resisted attempts to be loaded onto a plane returning to New York. He wound up being vanned from coast to coast with a stopover at Churchill Downs.
Pletcher said Quality Road has been "perfect" since returning to Belmont, patiently enduring gate schooling supervised by Bob Duncan, the former starter for the New York Racing Association, and current members of the gate crew.
"Since shipping, he's handled everything and done as well as we could hope for," Pletcher said. "Obviously, this wouldn't be the way you would draw it up."
Pletcher is also pointing Munnings to the Cigar Mile. A 3-year-old, Munnings has run third in his last three outings, all Grade 1 stakes: the Haskell Invitational, the King's Bishop, and the Vosburgh.
The Cigar Mile would be Munnings' third race beyond seven furlongs, but Pletcher pointed to the Haskell, a 1 1/8-mile race, as evidence he could handle the distance.
"He was right there at the eighth pole," Pletcher said. "He was just beaten out for second by Summer Bird. Obviously, Rachel Alexandra was an impressive winner, but I thought he held in there well."
The Cigar Mile is the main event among the six graded stakes here over Thanksgiving weekend.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Quality Road's status for the Grade 1 Cigar Mile on Nov. 28 at Aqueduct has not been decided, trainer Todd Pletcher said Friday morning.
"Don't know yet," Pletcher said at his Belmont Park office. "He will go to Aqueduct Saturday to school in the paddock around 11 a.m., and he'll go in the starting gate around 11:15. He'll probably breeze on Sunday, and we'll see how that goes."
Owned by Edward Evans, Quality Road threw a fit before the $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic, balking at loading into the gate and cutting himself, necessitating a scratch.
Several days later, he resisted attempts to be loaded onto a plane returning to New York. He wound up being vanned from coast to coast with a stopover at Churchill Downs.
Pletcher said Quality Road has been "perfect" since returning to Belmont, patiently enduring gate schooling supervised by Bob Duncan, the former starter for the New York Racing Association, and current members of the gate crew.
"Since shipping, he's handled everything and done as well as we could hope for," Pletcher said. "Obviously, this wouldn't be the way you would draw it up."
Pletcher is also pointing Munnings to the Cigar Mile. A 3-year-old, Munnings has run third in his last three outings, all Grade 1 stakes: the Haskell Invitational, the King's Bishop, and the Vosburgh.
The Cigar Mile would be Munnings' third race beyond seven furlongs, but Pletcher pointed to the Haskell, a 1 1/8-mile race, as evidence he could handle the distance.
"He was right there at the eighth pole," Pletcher said. "He was just beaten out for second by Summer Bird. Obviously, Rachel Alexandra was an impressive winner, but I thought he held in there well."
The Cigar Mile is the main event among the six graded stakes here over Thanksgiving weekend.