Tim Ritchey
Tim Ritchey
Timothy F. "Tim" Ritcheyis an American Thoroughbred racehorse trainer. He is best known as the trainer of Afleet Alex, a 2005 winner of two American Classic Races, the Preakness and Belmont Stakes...
arkansas definitely derby force healthy last looked relax stays triple watched work
I watched him work and he looked fantastic. I mean, he's the real deal. As long as he stays healthy and they get him to relax like they did last time, I see him being a force definitely in the Arkansas Derby and probably through the whole Triple Crown.
running worked
I didn't have anything running that day. It worked out real well.
blowing expected harder pulling work
I expected him to be blowing much harder than he was after pulling up, being that it was his first work in two months.
cart focus routine work
We're not going to put the cart before the horse. We'll nominate him to a lot of things between now and the end of the year, but our focus is getting him back into a routine and then a work schedule.
available barn bottom line longer moved race security since situation three worked
The bottom line is that since barn 14 was no longer a security barn and he would have to be moved on race day anyhow, I thought it would be a better situation in Barn 5. Since there were three stalls available there, it worked out perfectly.
faster forward good hoping means sign work
The work was faster than what I was hoping for. But I thought that was a good sign because it means we're more forward than I thought we were.
closer couple figuring ideal matter prep races ready weekend weeks
There are a couple of races that weekend for us to look at, ... If we can get a prep in, I wouldn't want it to be any closer than two weeks before the Breeders' Cup. The 14th or the 15th would be an ideal scenario. It's just a matter of figuring out if he's ready to do it, and, if so, what race we want to go in.
along bunch definitely further good spots
There are a bunch of different spots that weekend. We're definitely further along than I thought we were, which is good news.
expected far performance surprised
We expected this kind of performance. I wasn't surprised he was that far back, but when he got rolling, it was a lot of fun.
continued develop four plan results seems soon three walk
As soon as we get the results of the X-rays, we can develop a plan for getting him on the track. He has continued to walk three or four times a day and seems to be fine.
anyhow coming morning race
At this point, he's only going out once a morning anyhow because the race is coming up.
starts
We will know more after he starts galloping,
racing return somewhere
I don't know when and where, but he will return to racing somewhere this year.
anticipate fit hours keeping muscle percent point problems putting stress tone walking
I don't anticipate any more problems because it's 99.9 percent healed. He still has a lot of muscle on him. He doesn't have a big belly. That was the point of walking him two hours a day -- keeping him fit and maintaining muscle tone without putting stress on his legs.