Quality Road Banged Up

[Barbaro06]

Quality Road ain't doing too well mentally after the Classic--the blindfold did him in and he froze up as they tried to get him on the plane home.

Story:

http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/53390/traumatized-quality-road-will-van-home

[Shammy Davis]

No one should be surprised. If I were Ned Evans I would have dumped TP a long time ago. There is absolutely no excuse for this G1 type horse acting out like that. It's not like this hasn't happened before. QR's reputation has preceded him. I don't thnk the gate crew helped, but you can't blame them because it is their job to get the horses started. They don't have time to be messing with bad actors and besides it is dangerous for them.

[Barbaro06]

When he started bucking, I felt for the gate crew. Perhaps they shouldn't have gone for the blindfold so quickly, but they couldn't exactly link arms and get him in the gate with him kicking out like he was. I give props to the guy in the gate that held on to him when he broke through the gate. It would have been ugly with QR running down the track blindfolded.

I guess all the AM schooling at the gate doesn't always help. In Europe he would be banned from racing because he can't behave in or around the gate.

Hopefully with some down time QR can regain his wits.

[geowarrior]

Most of the articles on the subject quote the trainer as saying that Quality Road was gate schooled pretty extensively but did not turn a hair no matter how hard they tried to discombobulate him.

I was a bit surprised that the gate crew went for a blindfold so quickly, because although I'm very familiar with the blindfold from watching racing as a child in Britain, I rarely see it being used in North America. I've liked the blindfold better than ear twitching because it isn't so hurtful, and seemed generally successful, but to the best of my recollection in Britain the blindfold is whipped off as soon as the horse is in the starting stall. In this case it seemed that they didn't get the blindfold off quickly enough, hence the horse really went berserk.

My OTTB is still sensitive about the ears, no doubt because of ear twitching. Horses have very long memories, and I would not be surprised if Quality Road cannot be rehabilitated to the starting gate in the time frame that most owners require for money earning racehorses.

[walaa]

Im suprised everyone thinks they went for the blinfold so quickly, hell, I was about to jump through the TV and blindfold him and help them, It wasnt that quickly, it was a good full 5 minutes he was refusing to load, with everyone else having to wait, and you cant do anything with him kicking like that, as someone noted. There wasnt much else to do at that point, (easy to say watching, of course ) What I am suprised about is that they dont use a rope of some type so they dont have to link hands behind, just a nice 3 foot or so and try pulling a horse in, gently of course where you dont have to be that close to the kicking

[madelyn]

Pletcher sent him to the gate "at least 3 or 4 times"???? What was that meant to fix? When you have a problem like that, sometimes you send them to the gate Every Day! It's like anything else - the horse needs calm training to make the gate just an everyday event in its life.

As for the gate crew, I thought, from what I saw on national television, that they showed remarkable restraint. That horse was kicking out BEFORE a single gate crewman approached to try to link arms. This showed that the horse had been IMPROPERLY schooled. He'd been forced in so many times that he knew the drill up front. The crew did their job - they've got a post time and probably $20 million worth of pent up other horses standing in the squishy confines of the gate waiting to start and no time to be farting around with a badly trained horse.

[geowarrior]

Im suprised everyone thinks they went for the blinfold so quickly, hell, I was about to jump through the TV and blindfold him and help them, It wasnt that quickly, it was a good full 5 minutes he was refusing to load, with everyone else having to wait, and you cant do anything with him kicking like that, as someone noted. There wasnt much else to do at that point, (easy to say watching, of course ) What I am suprised about is that they dont use a rope of some type so they dont have to link hands behind, just a nice 3 foot or so and try pulling a horse in, gently of course where you dont have to be that close to the kicking

You're right, of course, but it seemed quickly to me given that I normally don't see blindfolds at all in North America. Either that or I take a power nap every time they start loading.

[Patuxet]

How much of a documented gate problem had QR actually evidenced before?

I saw him race three times (Fountain of Youth, FL Derby and Amsterdam S.) and I don't recall any real delay in the start of those. Not that my short term memory is all that good in my so called "golden years".

[bdw0617]

he acted up pretty bad in the florida derby.

give him to shug and he will patch work him a couple of grade 1 wins next year. freakishly talanted horse. but todd pletcher's "factory" is not condusive to a horse like this that needs alot of TLC time.

[trackgal]

When I worked for Mott, we had Elusive Quality..he just oozed class, Does Quality Road have a rep for being difficult-ish? I agree with whoever said a grade 1 horse should not be behaving like that..

[westover]

I thought they went for the blindfold way to fast.. Maybe i missed something but why couldn't they have at least attempted to back him in from the front.. i realize they had to get the horses loaded quickly but he is a big horse & who wouldn't panic not being able to see. It was unprofessional on the crew's part and had i been the trainer i would have been pissed that they took that route.. so fast..

It sucks when a horse is bad at that gate.. but if he was bad before he will be even worse now..

[jellac]

I give props to the guy in the gate that held on to him when he broke through the gate. It would have been ugly with QR running down the track blindfolded.

Yes - that was the 2009 version of the 'Eight Bells" tragedy avoided right there and soley on the strength of that one man's determined handling. He really should get some recognition for hanging in there with a wildly spinning, totally freaked out EQ long enough to finally remove the blindfold. I was holding my breath expecting him at any minute to break away and go crashing into some barrier sight unseen in his full blown paniced state. So glad he was removed from the gate and scratched. Could see the scrape on his right hock on TV and he favored it a few steps or so after he was led back behind the gate to be vet checked so the right decision.

Again Thank God for that man on the gate crew and his determined hold on EQ!

[Shammy Davis]

Wasn't there an English horse in the BC that had been banned from racing in the UK for just the same reasons? I'm pretty sure it was an English horse.

[bdw0617]

Wasn't there an English horse in the BC that had been banned from racing in the UK for just the same reasons? I'm pretty sure it was an English horse.

spanish moon. walked right in the gate

[louis finochio]

all bad gate tb should be loaded last, with no blind fold.