Michael Matz having trouble working Union Rags
The 3-year-old Michael Matz trained colt, Union Rags, had his final prep race for the Grade 1, $2 million Kentucky Derby almost 3 weeks back on 31 March, 2012, and a race that he was supposed to dominate got edged out by two, more fresher colts than him
Reveron in second and the Tampa Bay Derby bypassing three-year-old colt Take Charge Indy, who owned Gulfstream Park’s dirt track that day.
In a way the connections of Take Charge Indy were right to skip a lucrative Derby prep race for another one, which kind of panned out nicely for them but not before taking a lot of criticism for that, but eventually they were right for resting the colt,
because who knows a horse better than his trainer?, definitely not people who just report about events taking place in horseracing.
The theory should be applied for those who opted for a prep race in March for the Derby that is set to take place on 5 May, 2012, and other than the track or the race holding any significance to the decision, it is just plain logic to rest the horse and
keep them fresh as much as they can come the Kentucky Derby.
The other side of the story goes with resting, and it’s a very important part of the lives of racing horses, and that is training in between races, which usually gives the trainer idea of what’s lacking, or something he picked in a race that he didn’t like
and has time to fix it in that period for the next race.
However, coming back to Michael Matz, the trainer of well sought colt called Union Rags, and being one of the top contenders for the Kentucky Derby, it is essential that he turns in his routine works to be in good shape for the Derby.
But Michael Matz can’t control the weather, and in the spring time Churchill Downs do get an unexpected down pour every now and then, which makes it impossible for a horse to turn in his work on a wet track.
“It’s supposed to rain this weekend, and if it’s too wet, we’ll just stay here” at Keeneland to work, he said. “But if it turns out nice, I would like to van him down” to Churchill Downs.
Like many Kentucky Derby prospects, Union Rags is scheduled to have two more workouts before 5 May, and ideally one should be this weekend and the second one should be a week before the race.
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