Quality Road to compete Blame at the Whitney Handicap
Having won the Grade I Stephen Foster, Churchill Downs and five others oh his last seven starts, Quality Road offers a tough competition to Blame. The worth of Blame would only be determined after the race on Saturday, when he will run with Quality Road in the Grade I, worth $ 750,000 Whitney Handicap at Saratoga. Quality Road will carry 126 pounds, while Blame will get in with 121.
Quality Road is ranked as the top older male horse in the United States after winning the Metropolitan Handicap at Belmont and Donn Handicap at Gulfstream. Both these races were Grade I. He made it to the post 3 and was established as the 2-5 morning-line favourite for the Whitney Invitational by the line maker of the New York Racing Association, Eric Donovan.
Winning the Whitney is particularly important because according to the Win and You’re In policy, the victorious automatically becomes part of the Breeder’s Cup Classic at Churchill Downs scheduled on the 6th of November.
Quality Road’s competitor, Blame, is 2 for 2 this year. He has won the William Donald Schaefer Stakes at Pimlico on Preakness Day and Stephen Foster at Churchill on June 12. Blame will break the post 2 under the Jockey, Garrett Gomez. He is listed as the 4-1 choice on the morning line. The trainer is content with Blame’s preparation because he thinks that the horse was given a tremendous break during the winter. He was allowed to develop and mature on his own and now it’s his third time back off an extended layoff. The trainer, Al Stall, thinks they have the best horse. Todd Pletcher, the trainer of Quality Road also considers Blame respectable. Pletcher called Blame a top class horse on the basis of his performance at the Super Derby, where he chased after Regal Ransom. Regal Ransom had everything to him and was still chased by Blame till the end. Pletcher, however, cleared all doubt of swapping horses with anyone, whatsoever.
The race will also have horses like Mine That Bird, the 2009 Kentucky Derby winner. It is going to be his first race on a dirt track after he finished third in the West Virginia Derby.
The final decision by the trainer of Musket Man is still pending, but the horse is very likely to be a part of the Whitney Handicap. The owner has left the decision power with the trainer. This horse finished third to Rachael Alexandra in the Preakness last May and second to Quality Road in the Met Mile. Whitney Handicap will be his first start around two turns since then. Musket Man’s trainer and owner still haven’t been able to find out whether the horse a better sprinter or a better distance horse. This is the reason why they are having a hard time deciding if he should be kept one turn or go two turns with him.
Haynesfield will be running in a Grade I competition for the first time at the Whitney Handicap. Previously, he has won his last four races which include the Grade II Suburban 2009. Most sports analysts and trainers consider him to be a better runner than Blame, so as to just run along Quality Road on the front line. The field is completed by a Brazilian-bred colt.
The race is a centre of much speculation since both Blame and Quality Road are at their peaks right now. Even though Quality Road is openly supported and favoured by the trainers and the fans both, he is to run with an equally capable colt, Blame, who is very likely to snatch the victory away from Quality Road. Both the horses are conventional dirt track runners and equally capable. The Whitney Stakes has the potential, more than any other race so far, to become the race of the year. The importance of the race is not only determined by the best horses that will compete against each but also by the fact that Whitney Invitational will be the determinant of those who will run in the Breeder’s Classic Cup this year.
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