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Quality Road to undergo gate work

Quality Road has yet to finish worse than third in his career (Z. Laskowski/EquiSport Photos)

QUALITY ROAD (Elusive Quality), whose fiery antics caused him to be scratched at the gate prior to the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) at Santa Anita last week, is scheduled to return to his Belmont Park stall Tuesday and be back on the track Wednesday morning, according to trainer Todd Pletcher.

The Florida Derby (G1) winner and Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1) runner-up, who was forced to bypass the Kentucky Derby (G1) earlier in the year due to a quarter crack, is in the process of vanning to Churchill Downs from Southern California after he balked at getting on a plane on Monday.

"He's in transition to Churchill," Pletcher said. "He'll lay up there a couple days and then be here Tuesday. The (November 28) Cigar Mile (G1) is a possibility. Obviously, we would need everything to go perfectly between now and then, but he is under consideration. (Former New York Racing Association starter) Bob Duncan will start working with him Wednesday morning."

Pletcher doesn't know exactly what caused Quality Road to act up before the Classic, but says the horse has never had any problems around the starting gate while schooling in the mornings.

"The horse is not a problematic horse," he said. "He got upset the other day and things went the wrong way. He hasn't been a problem in the morning. If he continues to do well, we'll probably have some sort of afternoon schooling session at Aqueduct before we make any decisions."

Quality Road has shown flashes of brilliance in the afternoon throughout his brief seven-race career, setting new track records in his last two starts over a fast track, the Florida Derby and Amsterdam S. (G2) at Saratoga.


 


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