Quality Road, who was forced to scratch from the Breeders’ Cup Classic (gr. I) after suffering minor injuries during a bad incident at the starting gate, arrived safely at Todd Pletcher’s barn at BelmontPark at 6 a.m. Tuesday following an uneventful cross-country van ride from Santa Anita.
Because he refused to board the plane, Quality Road had to be vanned from California to Churchill Downs, where he remained for two days before departing for New York on Monday at 3 p.m.
According to Chris Baker, farm manager for owner Edward Evans, Quality Road will begin gate schooling on Wednesday with former NYRA starter Bob Duncan, who has worked with a number of bad gate horses over the years. The colt, who balked and kicked at the gate prior to the Jockey Club Gold Cup(gr. I), had extensive gate schooling prior to leaving for California and was no problem, Baker said.
Quality Road's progress will be monitored closely by Pletcher and Baker before a decision is made whether to point the son of Elusive Quality to the Hill ‘n’ Dale Cigar Mile (gr. I) Nov. 28.
