Calling All Horse Whisperers

Should Quality Road run in Aqueduct’s Grade 1 Cigar Mile next Saturday? That, my fellow horse fans, is the question. A little background on Quality Road. In only four races the big, beautiful, bay colt by Elusive Quality established himself as the favorite for the Kentucky Derby. His Fountain of Youth and Florida Derby were powerful displays of speed and class. A nasty quarter crack ended the Derby dreams of the Edward Evans runner and caused him to be away from the races for more than four months. During this time off Evans transferred him from Jimmy Jerkens to the Todd Pletcher stable. Returning to the races, Quality Road set a track record in the Amsterdam Stakes at Saratoga. The sky was the limit. He followed with two competitive losing efforts at 10 furlongs to the division leader Summer Bird in the Travers and the Jockey Club Gold Cup. It was enough for Team Quality Road to send the talented colt on to the Breeders’ Cup Classic and that is where the trouble began, or should I say, became worse. This was not the first time that Quality Road struggled to enter the starting gate. Remember all the trouble he had before the Travers? Loading for the Jockey Club Gold Cup was no picnic either. These traumatic experiences are not readily forgotten by a horse. Bad memories last longer than good ones. In the Breeders’ Cup, with a helicopter whirring overhead, everything came to a head. We all cringed as the starters at Santa Anita attempted to load Quality Road into the Classic starting gate. Quality Road simply would not go into the gate. Anything and everything the starters did, including blindfolding the powerhouse colt, only succeeded in making him more upset. On this day he was going to hurt himself before he went into that starting gate. The Thoroughbred race horse is a hot-blooded and temperamental breed and the starting gate can be an unpleasant aspect of racing for most horses. A high percentage of Thoroughbreds learn to live with being loaded into the gate and do so with calm. It is not uncommon, however, for a horse to dislike the loading process so much that they never get over the issue. They never walk into the starting gate with complete calm and confidence. The excellent sprinter of the mid 90s, Lit de Justice comes to mind. He was a very talented horse who had all sorts of gate problems. Trainer Jenine Sahadi was patient with him and finally went the route of blindfolding the champion sprinter before ever trying to enter the starting gate, and before the horse had the chance to get overly agitated. This program worked, for the most part, for Lit de Justice. Quality Road is a massive horse who fits more tightly into the starting gate than most. It is no wonder that the specter of the gate is so unnerving for Quality Road. Those of you who suffer from claustrophobia, as I do, know what I mean. While he consistently acts like a gentleman in gate schooling sessions, the added pressure of race day creates too many nerves. Perhaps a more detailed plan for getting Quality Road into the starting gate on race days is needed, or perhaps time and more positive schooling experiences will help alleviate his current uneasiness. Early word from his connections back in New York are good. He has once again schooled successfully and is being monitored in preparation for the Cigar Mile. Still, I can not help but to wonder if this quick return is the best thing for the horse. I have no doubt that Evans and Pletcher want to do right by the horse, and there is something to be said for getting right back in the saddle. I, however, would go a different route. If he were my horse, I would give him some time. Time to get over the traumatic experience at Santa Anita and time to feel good again. Clearly he was mentally effected by the incident, as he refused to get on the plane to head back to New York. His connections instead, had to van him all the way across the country. Running back so quickly in the Cigar Mile is not allowing for the horse to ease his psyche. Sure, the Cigar Mile is a big race and one that would seem to set up quite well for the talented Quality Road, but 2010 is full of big races, starting at Gulfstream Park, a track that he loves. I say give this horse a little rest, relaxation and rehabilitation, so that he can return next year at his best and claim his position as one of the top horses in America.