Silver,

It was never Pletchers intention to:

1.Skip the Wood and train CQ up to the derby until that horse "told" him,about 8-10 days out, that he could not handle the Wood and then the Derby.


2.Run back AGS on three weeks rest after the tough Tampa stretch duel with SS.The audible for AGS was called as a direct result of CQ defecting.Pletcher also said that he thought that AGS only ran the last quarter in Tampa and did not think AGS was a tired horse from that effort. At the 1/16 pole in the Wood AGS tried hard but tired badly late(his last eighth in 14.20)


Major changes to the schedule leading up to the Derby are almost always a negative.Since you are a fan of AGS(as are others) let me say that there is disappointment in the Pletcher camp about AGS's performance on Sat. His wide trip is only a small excuse.Of course he'll get credit for being wide in his fig, but no penalty for being perfectly placed off 3 horses mixing it up and coming up empty late.Depending on how Jerry saw the Wood, AGS might be sitting on an 0 2 X for the derby(not that I believe in that pattern all the time)

Since many people go off the last performance of a horse, you will get bonus odds as they hop off AGS's banwagon.My last tidbit, in early February I asked someone on the TAP team who they liked the most for the derby, answer "AGS may be any kind"

Good Luck,
Mike



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/10/2007 02:29PM by miff.