What is Rags To Riches' real issue?

Question

I'll eat my own p**p if Pletcher isn't working her because she has a 101 temp, bulllllllsheeeeeet. I love the way nobody can say whats wrong with a horse these days, even a filly whose foals will never be auctioned off. What a joke this business has become, a far cry from the days the old warriors ran every week and traded punches with no excuse if they lost the odd race.

Answer 1

don't go for the set-up hype.....she will race, and run lights..out....

Answer 2

Just to rebut some of the comments here.  Is there something going on? Maybe, she last appeared on the work tab on 7/8 5F in 1:04.01 b. But regarding the temperature situation often at many of the top barns at the track temperatures are taken every morning and are marked on a chart. Each horse tends to average a temp on a daily basis that is normal for that particular horse. If you took all the temps again in the afternoon and marked them down (which we always did with the yearlings and early 2yo in training) you will find the afternoon temp to be 1-2 fifths of a degree higher on average.   Normal temps can range from 99 to about 101 and a bit but in horses over 2 especially, 102 is a temperature especially if that horses average is normally 99  or 100.  As far as Frank Whiteley and Mike Bell I don't know anyone on the racetrack who didn't and doesn't hold them in the highest regard as horsemen.  Enough said.

Answer 3

The real issue is once you've won the Belmont, and your target is the BC Distaff, all of a sudden the CCA Oaks doesn't seem like a real big deal, especially since there's no Triple Tiara bonus anymore.  She is already a multiple Grade I winner, and a GI classic winner to boot.

The owner(s) said after the Belmont they wanted to run her in the Alabama. I think they saw a potential for her to run in the CCA Oaks and then the Travers, but now they get to run her where they wanted to all along.  So I think any excuse whatsoever and they would "audible" to the Alabama.  (Pletcher and his "audibles" are really geting tired, it's like a pathetic attention grab).

Although if she romps home in the Alabama without exerting herself, maybe the connections will reconsider the BC Classic. (Because she's already a stone cold lock for 3yr old filly Eclipse, so they'd be going for horse of the year, not to mention making the case for R2R being one of if not the best filly ever.)

Answer 4

I wonder who they will breed this filly with? She's demonstrated that she can go a distance, and that she can sprint when she needs to. That makes for some interesting possibilities for sires, I think. I will watch for her foals in a few years- the other writers are right, they should be worth a fortune. As for her not racing right now, there could be any number of minor reasons why Pletcher has pulled out of running her. Maybe she is heat, or maybe it's a bug that's going around up there. Her having a temp of only 101 is a little strange, I admit, especially since a NORMAL body temp in a young horse ( yearling age or so) can be as high as that and it doesn't mean anything. When it's 95 degrees out and the humidity is a 100% or close to it, OUR horses have higher temps at rest, and they don't race !!! I think Pletcher is going to have to come up with a better reason than this.... could it be that he just doesn't want to turn her into another Go for Wand or another Ruffian? If that's the case, I can't say as I blame him all that much- I mean, look at what happened to Frank Whiteley after Ruffian died. He was blamed for her death- in fact, people in the business pretty well crucified him for the rest of his life. His reputation was totally wrecked by what happened to the filly, and he never trained another horse like her again. Even Whiteley's assistant, Mike Bell, had HIS career damaged by his association with the filly.  If Pletcher wants to move cautiously so as to avoid this kind of ostracism, who's to say he's wrong?  Just my take on this...

PS: To Clarinet king: You may not have heard of anyone who criticized Whiteley, but I sure did- and more to the point, I read Ruffian's biography ( in book form) where the author talks about what happened to all of the filly's connections afterwards. None of those stories were pretty, Clarinet. Some of them, in fact, were downright tragic, like what happened to the filly's groom, Dan Williams. The story with him was that he died of acute alcoholic poisoning- and it has been said for years that he drank himself to death over the filly. Ruffian's owners and breeders also had lots of problems-Mrs Janey died of cancer, and Stuart Janey had a heart attack back in the early 90's died of that. Then there was the story about Shenanigans, Ruffian's dam, who died under mysterious circumstances a few years after Ruffian was destroyed. Supposedly, she broke a leg in a pasture accident.  Whiteley did indeed suffer greviously for his mistake with the filly- and yes, everyone else associated with that tragedy was impacted by it in one way or another.   That's all I really wanted to point out- and if Todd Pletcher wants to move slowly so as to avoid a potential tragedy, then I can hardly fault him for that-in fact, I wish there were more people in this business who displayed the kind of common sense that he does. As you put it, enough said.

Answer 5

I dunno.  This is the time of year when a lot of horses are moving from track to track as meetings end, and a lot of 2-year-olds are coming to the tracks from training centers.  So you get all kinds of viruses and infections that start going through barns on the backside, with horses coughing and horses spiking fevers.  I think it's possible that "Rags" did spike a temperature for a day or so, and/or maybe coughed a little.  Pletcher and her connections aren't going to take any chances with her running a poor race.

While I agree with you that the way things are today is a far cry from the way things used to be as far as running horses, and I do wish that the top horses would/could run more often and have longer careers, I understand why things are the way they are.  A top horse's value is at stud, not on the racetrack, although that's much more so for colts than for fillies.  FWIW, I think "Rags' " value is topped out now and it doesn't matter what races she wins or loses in the rest of her career.

Personally, I think that her owners and Tod Pletcher are ready to blow off summer races in favor of a fall campaign for Horse of the Year.  If you look at the Eclipse Award voting the last few years, you'll see that with very few exceptions, the voters tend to lean heavily towards horses that had a good fall campaign, with stellar Breeder's Cup performance, as opposed to a campaign with wins in the spring and summer and nothing in the fall.  When Eclipse Award voting time rolls around, nobody is going to remember who won the CCA Oaks.  But they will remember who won the Breeder's Cup races.

With regard to races affecting Rags' value as a broodmare,

bottom line is that unless the Jockey Club approves embryo transfer (which it won't), "Rags" can produce maybe 12-15 foals in her lifetime, most likely fewer than that.  "Rags" is a Grade 1 SW, a classic winner, half-sister to a classic winner, her dam is likely to be named Broodmare of the Year for 2007.  She's from a top family.  She isn't going to get any more valuable than she already is, no matter what races she wins.  And while it's true that the Coolmore Mafia rarely sell horses at public auction, at some point estate planning and other financial realities will most likely result in some of their horses being sold, either privately or at public auction.  

With regards to who they might breed her to, "Rags" has a pedigree that is completely free of Mr. Prospector and has one cross to Northern Dancer in her fourth remove.  Coolmore has had success with doubling up on the Northern Dancer blood, crossing Danehill-line horses with some of the Sadler's Wells-line horses.  If "Rags" belonged to me, I'd retire her at the end of the year, fly her across the pond to Ireland and breed her to Sadler's Wells soonest, with an eye towards trying to produce an Epsom Derby winner.  (If Sadler's Wells isn't available, I'd breed her to Galileo.)  

I think that Pletcher and co. will hold off on any races this summer if there is the least doubt that "Rags" is fit.  There's no upside to trying to win mid-summer filly-and-mare races with her;  much better to save her for a fall campaign and maybe horse of the year, if she can win again against top males.

Answer 6

I'd say odds are she's come into season.  So many fillys run badly when it season that the trainers quite often scratch them from their next race.

I'm sure if there was something more serious going on the rumour mill would be working overtime - you can't keep everyone the works on the backstretch quiet you know!

Sorry, I hadn't realised that it was legal to race on Regumate in the US, as it is not permitted on this side of the pond!  Guess it's a mystery to me now!

I agree though, I long for the gold old days when a decent horse turned up at every available opportunity and if they lost, hey that's racing.  Not like these soft horses that only get three or four starts a season to "preserve their stud value".  I'd rather breed from a horse that was a proven sound battler than one that was never really made to work.

Answer 7

Interestingly enough, the Pletcher blog on the NTRA web site said that Rags' Sunday workout went great and she was fine -bouncing around and nipping the lead pony. Then Monday Pletcher said that she had a temp of 101 (weird since 100-102 is considered normal for a horse) and "hadn't been herself for a few days." She could be coming into heat which is probably not the best time to race. Or maybe they do feel she is fighting off a mild infection. She has a 5 for 5 race record this year. Who wants to spoil that pushing her if she seems a little off? Also, she is the most valuable female Thoroughbred in the US now. I don't think they are going to push her. Ever. Why do you say her foals will never be sold? I wouldn't be surprised if they retire her after this year to breed her rather than risk any catastrophic injuries. Her offspring would be extremely valuable.

Answer 8

Seems like she will be coming into the season but I heard she might not....... it depends

Answer 9

horses, just like athletes are being babied more than ever.  You see baseball players going on the DL with sore toes, and minor colds.