Rags to riches?

Question

Do you think that they should retire her ? I know that she has only run 5 races, and we do now what she can do I meen she beet the boys at the Belmont the longest of all three triple crown races.and I just dont want to see her get hurt on the track. She is too wonderful ! If they run her and she breaksdown on the track It will be sooo tragic , and lately she has had a fever which I know that they are doing everything that they can to make her feel better. and I know that pletcher would not let her race if she was not 100% but they thought ruffian was 100% when she ran in the great match and she brokedown .

Answer 1

No they shouldn't retire her.  At the very least, she'll be around for the rest of this year...  she'll run a prep in late summer/early fall, then she'll run the Breeders Cup in October.  Rags to Riches is a fan favorite and she's attracting a lot of attention to herself and the sport.  We need a horse like that.

Rags had a small fever last month and then a general odd feel which caused them to send her to New Bolton for a complete checkup in which they found absolutely nothing.  The thing is...  yes tragedies are going to happen in the sport...  but fortunately it doesn't happen all the time.  It's not like you run your horse with a high risk of it breaking down all the time.  It's going to happen, but it happens at random.  For all the top level horses who break down, there's still hundreds of healthy horses out there running in those same races.  You can't let the fear of the possibility of something happening stop you from racing the horse.  It would hurt the sport a lot if every winner of a major grade 1 stakes retired right away.  As it is, after the Breeders Cup in the fall, we won't see the top 3 year olds race anymore (with few exceptions).  Certainly, you don't want to be reckless with your horse, but you don't want to be overly cautious either.  Track surfaces are becoming safer and trainers are sure to watch the horse for any signs of unhealthiness...  especially a trainer like Todd Pletcher with a horse like this.  They're not going to let her go out and hurt herself.  Freak things are going to happen, yes.  But that's no reason to leave the sport completely.  Some horses break down and some horses are perfectly healthy and race for many years...  look at John Henry and The Tin Man.  And can you imagine if they had decided that just to be cautious that they wouldn't race Cigar in 1996...  I mean he'd already won the Breeders in 1995.  He could have retired to ensure his safety.  I just think there's a fine line...  you don't have to be overly cautious to avoid being reckless.  Just be smart about it.  And I think Pletcher is smart about his horses.

The thing about Ruffian...  she was 100% when she ran that race.  There's 2 issues here...  she was running a match race over a mile and a quarter...  that means the 2 horses were full out sprinting for the entire distance.  There's a reason that we don't do match races anymore.  In a normal race, Rags can pace herself and save the sprinting for the stretch run.  Had Ruffian run a normal race that day... say if there had been another couple horses in the race...  she probably wouldn't have broken down.  The other thing...  Ruffian came from a sire who had a leg problem every year that he ran...  and he passed the problem to Ruffian.  Ruffian fractured a bone in her ankle when she was 2 which knocked her out of racing for the rest of that year.  Had she remained healthy, she probably would have faced the boys in a normal race at the end of 1974 and then ran the Triple Crown races of 1975.  As it was, she spent late 1974 recovering, so there wasn't enough time to have her ready for the Derby in May.  Then after she won the Filly Crown, her connections were forced into running her against the boys.  The race was originally to have 4 horses, but Avatar's trainer loaded him up and took him back to California because the colt simply was not up to facing that field at that particular time.  So it became a 3 horse race until Master Derby pulled out...  his reason: in a normal race you have strategy...  you can sit where you want early in the race...  you can lead, stalk, or close.  In a 3 horse field if you have 2 horses challenging each other early and one who sits off the pace, it sets up the race for the horse to come from off the pace to win...  the other 2 will wear each other out.  And he couldn't very well let Ruffian have the lead to herself...  If she broke loose and got an early lead, the boys might not be able to catch her.  So either way, he'd be running a race that he most likely would not win...  he'd be setting up another horse for the win no matter which strategy he chose.  So it became the match race.  And Ruffian was 100%...  there was no way they could have known what would happen to her.  She was a massive horse...  bigger than Foolish Pleasure in every way except for one: her shoe size.  Ruffian was weighed over 100 pounds more than Foolish Pleasure...  she was taller and longer.  And all of that massive size came down on thinner legs.  Ruffian's breakdown was unfortunate (no one would have liked another result more than I)...  but that's no reason to abandon racing altogether.  We need horse racing favorites.  We need horses like Rags to Riches.  She should be retired, but at least not until after the Breeders Cup.

Answer 2

she was born to run.....some break down before they make it to the

track....we all know that she is 100% race horse...so lets see how

far she can go...i bet the 1st time she does not kick it in, at the

top of the stretch, the jockey will pull her her for safety reasons.

Answer 3

I want to see "Rags" racing in the Breeder's Cup, in the Distaff if not the Classic, but it might not happen.

"Rags" has pretty much locked up the Eclipse Award for champion three-year-old filly.  Even if she never races again, she's a lock for the championship.  So at this point, any additional racing she does is for a higher championship.  If she could beat males in one of the remaining premier races of the year (e.g., the Travers Stakes of the Breeder's Cup Classic), you could make an argument for her as Horse of the Year.  I believe that her connections would like to go for that, but I also believe that they have to weigh the risks against the rewards.

It might be that Pletcher and Magnier feel that there really isn't enough upside to racing her again to justify the risk.  As a broodmare prospect, her value is pretty much locked in.  And she is a very valuable prospect.  Belmont winner herself, Eclipse Award champion, half-sister to a Belmont winner, she's also got a "cousin" out of a half-sister to her dam who is a likely champion in England:  Peeping Fawn, Irish Oaks winner, Epsom Oaks second, Nassau Stakes (Gr I) at Goodwood this year.  Magnier and company would be crazy to take chances with a potential broodmare that valuable.  (I would love love love to see what kind of foal "Rags" would produce to the cover of either Sadler's Wells or Galileo.)

I sure hope Pletcher and Magnier go for Horse of the Year with "Rags," but I'm sure that unless they feel she's absolutely 100% fit and sound, they'll keep her in the barn.  A lesser horse they might race if they felt it was 95% right, but not this filly.  If she's not 100% they'll retire her.

Answer 4

Rags is a great 3 yo filly and has great racing and training connections... they will not take chances with this gal and it looks like they have two races in mind the ruffian on the 8th and a race the weekend of the 23rd...unless she runs out of her eyeballs and comes back jumping and squealing from the second race (last before breeders cup day) she will not be running in the classic, she caught a thin field of tired 3 year olds in the Belmont and will not beat them again or a field full of older top quality handicap horses in the classic... look for Rags to run good in the two prep races, take on the best fillies and mares in the BC Distaff, run first or second there, then for the mgt team to map a 4 year old campaign with only a hand full of big races or to retire her to the shed...only the very best will get a chance to breed to Rags... personally Id like to see Storm Cat,Giants Causeway, Dynaformer, Deep Impact or Forestry get first go for breeding with this one...

Answer 5

If Rags must race again, after the prep race next month, then let her run in the Breeder's Cup- but in the Classic, NOT the Distaff. The Distaff is a race that has already claimed the lives of 2 fillies that I am aware of- Go for Wand and Pine Island, who died last year after snapping a foreleg just after the start. There was another mare who was hurt as well in that race- I just can't recall her name. There is something jinxed about that race- call me crazy or whatever you want, but I have a feeling that if Rags runs in it, she will meet the same fate as Go for Wand. If Pletcher has any sense, he will train her for the Classic instead.  Rags is like Ruffian was in a lot of ways- and he really needs to be careful, or she will wind up like Ruffian did. Just a thought...

Answer 6

She has had the most extensive medical workup possible to give a horse. She went to New Bolton for a full nuclear body scan and was seen by the track vet, New Bolton vets, and the owner's regular vet. They all said she is fine. She is back in training at Sara toga. This week Pletcher said she will skip the Alabama and run in the Ruffian Stakes at Belmont next, followed by the Breeder's Cup Distaff in October.

Breakdowns in racing are tragic and all too common. It is estimated that 1.5 out of every 1,000 horses that starts a race will sustain a fracture. Racing is risky but accidents can happen anywhere. The famous Alydar fractured his leg in his stall at the stud farm and had to be euthanized. I certainly hope nothing ever happens to Rags like a broken bone. However, I don't think she should be retired. Her owner and trainer obviously know how valuable she is and are treating her with kid gloves. She'll be lightly raced and they'll take every precaution with her. If they manage her career carefully, which I am sure they will, it will only add to her value. I would love to see her run against the colts again, especially Street Sense and Curlin, though that isn't going to happen this year, anyway, based on the plans Pletcher has outlined. Her owners have said repeatedly that they plan to race her next year as a four year old so I think we will get the privilege of seeing her race a few more times.

Answer 7

I can not answer this any better than the other answers that you have recieved, other than to give my person opinion.  I would hate for them to retire Rags to Riches now.  Her problem was a slight fever which does not necessarily mean she will break down her next race. The doctors have thoroughly checked her out.  Right now, horse racing is seeing a slight increase in popularity.  In part due to Rags to Riches.  I for one would like to see her run in the Breeder's Cup.

Answer 8

No, I don't think they should retire her. Here's the latest news about Rags To Riches:

Rags to Riches works, but not for Alabama

Belmont S. (G1) heroine RAGS TO RICHES (A.P. Indy) worked five furlongs in 1:02 over Saratoga's fast main track on Sunday, and shortly afterward, trainer Todd Pletcher confirmed that his once-beaten star will skip Saturday's $600,000 Alabama S. (G1). Instead, the blaze-faced chestnut will likely make her next appearance versus older distaffers in the $300,000 Ruffian S. (G1) on September 8 at Belmont Park. Pletcher mentioned the $250,000 Gazelle S. (G1) against her own age group on September 15 as an alternative, fall-back position.

Rags to Riches was posting her second drill since she underwent a complete physical examination at the University of Pennsylvania's New Bolton Center, and consulting veterinarian Dr. Paul Thorpe cleared her to resume training.

"We missed too much time," Pletcher said of the decision to await the Ruffian. "It's August 12, and she's not ready to run on August 18. I didn't want to push the issue. I'm disappointed that she won't get to run here, and I'm sure there are people who would have loved to see her run. Timing-wise, it's not going to happen.