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RECENTLY POSTED QUESTIONS

QUESTION: Given the heartbreaking tragedy of Eight Belles' loss, and the subsequent "everyone wading in with an opinion," I wondered about your thoughts as to breeding more for speed, and perhaps less for stamina. View Answer » I can't really explain the loss, other than to say that it was a devastating one. There is no doubt that horses are generally less hardy than they used to be and are bred nowadays to sell at auctions - and not necessarily to campaign for their breeders. This has injected more speed into the product, and some of this speed emanates from essentially unsound ancestors. I don't in any way say this was the case with Eight Belles, but it is generally true. Eight Belles' connections are high-class people who would always have the horse's best interest at heart. Tragedies of this sort in our business are horrible, but I guess there are tragedies in every field of endeavor - football, dog-sledding, you name it. Hide Answer

QUESTION: Keeneland should not have changed to Polytrack since Churchill is dirt. It is too important a meet - and I preferred Keeneland without the track announcer. Your thoughts on Poly vs. dirt. View Answer » It is confusing that Keeneland's surface is Polytrack and it feeds into the Churchill meet, and its dirt track. Keeneland pioneered the idea of a synthetic surface in North America - to great acclaim. The forerunner was their training track and it got good reviews from horsemen, causing management to install it on the big track several years later. (Turfway Park was actually the first racetrack that held racing on Polytrack.) It is certainly true that it makes for confusion, and you cannot translate previous form accurately into a performance on Polytrack. As you know, trainers plan their schedules around it one way or another. I guess I disagree about Keeneland and its track announcer. I do prefer having the announcer, but I like the discreet, typically Keeneland-way of handling it without a lot of hustling people to the windows. Hide Answer

QUESTION: How did you become involved with trainer Todd Pletcher? View Answer » I sent four or five horses to Todd Pletcher in the spring of 1996. At the time he had about ten horses, I believe. I had known him while he was one of Wayne Lukas's assistants. When he went out on his own in the fall of 1995, he mentioned his availability to me, and I seized the opportunity some months later. It was a good move and I think it has been productive for both of us. It would be hard to find anything wrong with Todd Pletcher. Hide Answer

QUESTION: When you describe your partnership horses, you talk about strong sloping shoulders, great eye, big overstride, classy looking horse. What do these terms mean? View Answer » Actually a strong, sloping shoulder and big overstride go together to denote athleticism. A horse should have a shoulder that is deep and on a forty-five degree angle. An upright shoulder would not permit a horse to stride out properly. The first indication of athleticism is the overstride - when the hind foot comes down and imprints six to 12 inches ahead of the front foot. I believe a great eye and class go hand-in-hand. In looking at a young horse you would like to get a feeling of quality or character, just as you would when looking at a ten or 12-year-old child. Hide Answer

QUESTION: What is the difference between all-weather tracks and the old dirt tracks? Do horses run differently on different surfaces? View Answer » The difference between all-weather and dirt tracks is that the dirt tracks are an absolute mess when it rains - therefore, the all-weather tracks are wonderful to train on. Certainly some horses do not adapt well to running on synthetic surfaces, and we have seen a splendid example of that with Pyro finishing up the race track in the Blue Grass Stakes. No one has come up with any bright ideas on why certain horses thrive on all-weather tracks, and others do not. Hide Answer

QUESTION: Do you think that South Carolina will ever have racing that can be wagered on? And, would you be in favor of racing in the state? View Answer » I would think that South Carolina racing would be a little dicey. The only logical place would seem to be close to Charlotte, North Carolina. Atlanta would also be a viable place for racing in the South. Birmingham, Alabama - mostly through misconception and weird management - was a flop. If I were an investor I don't think I would be seeking involvement in a South Carolina racing venture. Hide Answer

QUESTION: Where is Vicarage and will he run again? View Answer » Vicarage is training here in Aiken. He is up to half-mile works now and we're looking for a van to take him back to Todd Pletcher's barn at Churchill Downs. We like the way he's going. Hide Answer

QUESTION: What are your thoughts about changing the current calendar for the Triple Crown races? Would you space them out more? Or do you subscribe to the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" theory? View Answer » The Triple Crown races should not be changed. The schedule has always been tough and always should be tough. While I think horses are more delicate than they used to be, they are still tougher than the four- and five-week rest periods between races demanded by many modern-day trainers. Hide Answer

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