Bloodhorse.com: An interview with Hal Wiggins
A wonderful interview by Jason Shandler with the man that was Rachel Alexandra's first trainer. This is definitely worth a read.
over 1 year ago
Matt Gardner
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It Is A Great Read...
I was struck, especially, by this quote:
She was all out (in the Woodward) and I think sometimes when a filly has to do that she has a hard time coming back, even with rest. It might have quit being fun for her. When she was running against 3-year-old fillies she was never extended; she did it so easily. After races, she was dragging the rider around the track. After you give everything you have a couple times, it takes something away from them.
Was that the mistake not that compromised her? Is that to say that she couldn’t ever again be the horse she was as a 3-year old?
I still wish she was going to run in this year’s BC Distaff.
Now is the time boys to make a big noise.
No matter what the people say,
For there is naught to fear, the gang's all here,
So hail West Virginia, hail.
That was one of the two quotes that really stuck out to me.
As for the Woodward, I think it can be looked at in two was. One, the race made her work harder than expected and it burnt her out and, two, (and this has been my contention for a while), just making the move to older horses changed how she was able to run. She crushed 3yo, for the most part, but found it a bit more challenging when faced off against older, seasoned runners.
The other quote that got me was this one:
JS: Would you have gone to the 2009 Breeders’ Cup at Santa Anita?
HW: I think so, because she ran so well at Keeneland and won pretty nicely. But I think we would have gone to the Distaff.
This is what bothered me about Jackson skipping the BC last year. Yeah, he doesn’t like plastic, but the idea that his horse wouldn’t run on it was absurd since she already had done so previously in her career.
"A bad day at the track is better than a good day at the office."
by Matt Gardner on Oct 1, 2010 10:35 AM EDT up reply actions
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