by Frank Angst
Florida Derby Presented by BlackBerry (G1) winner Quality Road was scratched minutes before the Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) on Saturday after he had problems loading into the starting gate.
Quality Road kicked multiple times as the gate crew attempted to load him into the 12th post position before the Classic. The crew finally pushed him into the gate but the three-year-old Elusive Quality colt acted unruly in the gate, forcing rider John Velazquez to dismount.
Quality Road then forced open the gate but was restrained by handlers and did not get away. After he was walked behind the gate, he was examined by the track veterinarian and scratched from the race.
“Quality Road has had a history of being difficult in the starting gate, and unfortunately it became a battle of wills out there,” said Wayne McIlwraith, D.V.M., the on-call veterinarian. “He had lacerations to [his] limbs, so there was no choice but to scratch [him]. They’re just superficial injuries but you can’t race [him] when [he] has a bleeding laceration.”
There were no major injuries during the two days of Breeders’ Cup World Championships on Friday and Saturday.
Mike Smith, the jockey aboard the race’s eventual winner Zenyatta, said he was concerned when the field had to be backed out of the starting gate and reloaded about three minutes later.
“We backed out very quietly,” Smith said. “I just prayed she didn’t get too excited.”
Smith also said he was concerned that Zenyatta would think she was just receiving gate schooling after she was backed out of the gate. He said perhaps that was why she broke slowly.
Frank Angst is senior writer for Thoroughbred Times