Afleet Alex

[bcassidy]

Afleet Alex went 4 1/2 miles today, the hottest day of the year with very high humidity. Ritchey's methods are certainly unorthodox. Ritchey left himself open to huge criticism if Alex doesn't run well on Saturday. AA has already established a pattern of strong performances followed by weaker performances but with this races added distance and this work---- this is certainly a very controversial move. I am rooting for AA but some of these decisions are baffling me. Rose doesn't ride many mile and a half races either so I hope he doesn't hit the accelerator too early like some other less experienced jockeys have done in this race. What do others think? There is much to talk about with some of these decisions.

[Tairaterces]

Ritchey's unorthodox training has gotten Alex this far . . . . so who's to argue . . . . .

Rose and the crew have to let Alex run his own race (I still think we would have had a TC winner with Smarty last year had they let him run his own race).

JMO
Tairaterces

[louis finochio]

Each trainer has to know their TB like the back of their hand.

Whats one TB desert is anothers poison.

The question of AA condition will surface after the Belmont. Then we will hang his trainer or crown the victorious trainer and AA.

I am not one to hang the trainer before the race, as their is too much stress on these individual trainers.

You must choose a rider that has the experience of riding in one and half mile races, as this can be a positive, as last years Belmont was a prime example.

[bcassidy]

Tairateraces---How would anyone know what AA's race is for a mile and a half? He has never run it and we won't know what the pace scenario is until they hit the half mile pole. Saving ground is huge in a long distance race like this and that extra 1/4 mile really throws the timing off of the jockeys that don't ride this distance that often. I really believe AA is the best horse in this year's crop of 3 yr olds but the trainer and jockey play huge roles as well. Let's hope Ritchey and Rose made and or make the right decisions for AA.

Louis---It is always easy to take a position after a race. Why not go on the record before the race?
I think AA is a very top performer at almost any distance including the mile and a half.
I am concerned that Rose won't t save ground through those two big turns and that he panics early in the race and sets up the race for a deep closer ridden by a great pace rider like Prado or Velazquez. Prado is a master at saving ground and timing this distance. He rides it as often as anybody in the US.
Ritchey has drilled this colt for over a year. Most horses wouldn't have withstood his training yet alone race at peak performances. Today's work was ridiculous. I hope AA is good enough to overcome this mistake. If he comes up empty---you know the comments will be flying about today's decision. I watched Smarty get defeated by a tactical mistake===I am hoping the same doesn't happen to AA. Just my humble thoughts. Would appreciate hearing comments.

[Racerx]

First off AA and the trainer/jockey have already proven themselves. Secondly alex went out twice, he jogged first thing in the am when it was still very cool out and he galloped 3 miles right after the break. Same exact thing he did before the preakness. He didnt work this week and he will be going easier until sat. And lastly all the old time trainers trained this same way they put a good base under thier horses with 4-5 miles of training a day. Alex is a hrad knocking horse he doesn't want to be trained like fine china he likes to run, a happy horse will run better that an unhappy horse every time.

[Heidilady]

Maybe it's my eyes playing tricks but I've been seeing Alex as more filled and more stud than weedy colt in the last week or two in particular. Seems like he's getting stronger. If you'd said after the Derby can he win the Belmont I'd have said emphatically no, that his KY Derby showed me he might gallop 3 miles straight but he can't get the distance in a pinch. Now I almost think he's moved forward enough that unless some other horse has moved forward as well as he has, he couldn't lose the Belmont. He's a better horse than he was a month ago. I wouldn't feel like he was a fluke if he won it. I'd love to see Giacomo move up and at least be a threat..I get Funny Cide vibes with him and sometimes that's good and sometimes it's bad. Getting a mile and a half under race conditions is a different animal than having a good bottom from long gallops.

Anybody know more about how Afleet Alex and Giacomo have filled out? What about the other Belmont probables? I don't see the others much so even though I might like their breeding I know ala Saarland that it doesn't really mean they have a chance in Hades.

[bcassidy]

racerx--You may think Ritchey and Rose have proven themselves---I don't. I thought AA was good enough to win the TC. I guess you didn't. I thought Rose's comments after the derby were especially enlightening. With his own words he speaks to his lack of experience at certain tracks by stating that he couldn't wait to get the series back to his "home" track--Pimlico. I would have preferred to see another jockey ride AA in the Derby and the Belmont, both of these races have earned their reputations for being difficult to master and I would have preferred to have a more experienced jockey in both races. The derby because of the bumping and jostling that occurs in a 20 horse field and the importance of your position in the first turn and the Belmont because of the extra distance and the fact that most of these horses have never tried to go that long before. No one knows how these horses will perform going 1 and a 1/2 miles but I do know that ground loss and pace are critical to the outcome of this race.

[bcassidy]

Heidilady----respectfully, I would find it hard to believe he has filled out in the past month-- especially after his TC campaign. He is a young 3 yr old so you would expect him to keep growing but he was campaigned hard as a 2 yr old and obviously hard as a 3 yr old, so it wouldn't seem logical to me to expect him to put a lot of weight on in the last 4 weeks but I certainly could be wrong. I think AA is a very serious race horse and is the best 3 yr old of his crop but maybe after the Pimlico race you are just feeling better about him so he looks better to you.

[marg]

Standardbred people work their horses long distances almost daily----who is to say.Maybe without all that conditioning,Alex would not have been able to collect himself after that Srappy T incident and go on to win.I think it's a better aproach than gallop them one day and walk them the next.Marg

[bcassidy]

marg---I would agree with your comments with one exception (and this was a point I made under another post) the triple crown series is a totally different test for horse, trainer and jockey alike. The trainers who get to these races often and the jockey's which ride these tracks and distances the most often have a huge advantage over the less experienced . My point is that as an owner (if I ever made it to that level or series) it would be very difficult to go with an unproven trainer and jockey---there are so many variables that would be new to a less experienced trainer and jockey. I am certainly not saying it isn't possible for a green trainer and jockey to win any or all of the TC races but they are at a huge disadvantage and when a horse loses (a race or the triple crown) it disappoints me to hear people say the horse wasn't good enough when in my opinion it was human error that cost the horse the win. The human connections get all the credit when things go well and only the horse gets blamed when things go poorly. Just my opinion. I am certainly not trying to slight any individual just there experience in this series and at those tracks.

[Racerx]

Green trainer??? are you kidding me? Ritchey has been around horses since he was 2 he is a better horseman than those top tier trainers will ever hope to be. None of them had to work there way up from waterford park with 2 horses they bought for 600 dollars.

[llbean]

Edgar Prado is the man for the Belmont on account of his starting out in his native Peru; where the races are longer and Jockeys actually have learn the simple fact that you don't start your move half-way through the race.

I'm not sure if it's within the bounds of the possible for Rose to ride a worse race than the so called top Jocks have been lately in the Belmont.

Maybe Rose will somwhow find a way to do even worse than the over the hill old men though (Sprint out of the gate, Turn around half way through the race, etc.) ...

-llbean

[louis finochio]

What I saw in AA eyes was enough for me to crown him 3yr. old champ for the year.

AA was that impressive in his victory, I hope AA is victorious on Saturday, as he is the best 3yr. old i have seen to date. Get some rest AA as you have a big day coming on Saturday.

[henthorn]

I've often wondered if I were in the owner's shoes for a classic contender, whether I would try a different jockey and/or trainer. I think a lot would depend on how much time and comfort the current team had had with the horse and with me. I would rather give the horse's regular human team a chance to step up to the plate, as a matter of loyalty and reward for their services, if they had been staunchly loyal to me and my horse. It would be so much more rewarding to include them, rather than to just go for money and glory.

[Karie]

AA has done great with those training pratices, but wow.. that is a long workout in hot and humid temp... You can help but question it a little....
Hopefully it was REALLY early in the AM....

I know how I felt after cleaning stalls today!