Quality Road's talent has been evident since his impressive Fountain of Youth and Florida Derby wins last year at Gulfstream. He's been devastating from 6 1/2 furlongs all the way up the classic distance of a 1 1/4. The only start in which he didn't register a triple-digit Beyer speed figure was when he was off a step slow in his second career start. That start, a hoof injury and wet tracks have kept him from being perfect.
This afternoon in the Donn he trounced an OK field without breaking a sweat while breaking his own track record. After his tour de force, it got me more interested in seeing a Rachel Alexandra/Quality Road match up because it would pit speed vs. speed. And we all know speed kills. Unless your name is Zenyatta.
What did you make of the DQ? Looked to me like Yates was winding up to blow by Take the Points but got blocked and then tripped. After that he was done. While I believe Take the Points was at fault, the beneficiary of the DQ was Court Vision who really didn't deserve to win. CV was well positioned, but didn't show much of a late kick.
ReplyDeleteMaybe Desormeaux should've tried to get Yates Black Cat to the outside coming off the final turn where he'd have a clear lane. Instead he chose to stay inside and found trouble. Kinda peeved because I thought I backed the best horse. But maybe the 5th place finish will provide some betting value in his next start.
Looked like Yate's was in the midst of a winning move, but who knows? That's the problem with DQs, I'm never quite sure (and neither are the stewards) what the outcome would have been. Sort of like pass interference on overthrown balls in the NFL - how can the ref tell the ball would have been caught or not??? I will Pletcher on this one - it was border line and Court Vision became an undeserving winner.
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