The Jockey Club Gold Cup was a 2 mile race until 1975.

Yea, I think the early 70's was the last time they breed real horses. Now they are pansy's, head to the shed row, before we break down

:)

I like the six, Honor Prayer.

something funny you don't hear very often, the one horse picks up 30lbs from his last race!!

:)

I'll give you an over/under of 3:31 on this race. Take your pick.

The 1 was scratched. Guess they didn't like the 147 pounds.:D

I'll take the over all day long on that one.. I'm guessing 3:36 or 37

I imagine the jockey was bummed-- "Man! I was SO going to eat lunch today!"

The race is so long, that TVG might have to go to a commercial break during the race.

"We'll be right back with the finish..."

Do they have replays, never know when you need to review these.:)

These races run on the turf are much less pounding on the horse. The horse does not hit with near as much impact because they cant run that fast. And you dont think horses dont wobble after a good tough 6f race...?

Thank you, pgardn. Don't know about you, but the majority of horses I've seen after a race have been a bit wobbly afterwards... lol.

Case in point... Nobiz. So 'wobbly' that he was resting his right hind in the winners circle.

Yea, like I said, can't even make 114 in 6fl, without huffing and puffing, it's a joke. Easy on the horse on the turf? OK, seems 2 miles anyway, is to tough to me.

The jumpers carry that much and more, and run that far or farther all the time.

Nice call. 3:36.99. They went the first mile about 5-6 seconds slower than I guessed they would (1:42 was my guess for the mile + a 1:49 second mile.)

I haven't watched a whole lot of jumpers, but based on what I've seen, breakdowns are commonplace.

More so in Europe where they are running up and down hills on some pretty rough tracks (not to mention 25 horse fields). On the flats at Saratoga and (I think) Colonial it's not really that bad. I gotta believe it's the jumping more than the weight.

Yeah I was speaking of the hilly races in Europe with lots of jumps.
It looks grueling.

They had one late last year or early this year where about half the field broke down. There are a few hilly tracks here but they don't look to be as rough as in Europe.

I think the phrase is "Speed kills" and a horse carrying more weight just isn't going to run as fast as he would under lighter weight (ergo the whole theory of handicapping, right?). So, actually, in terms of stress, the slower the horse goes, the less stress on the legs. I've actually thought it would be interesting to see if raising the minimum weight horses can carry would reduce breakdowns because they just couldn't go as fast, though I imagine a 5-pound or even 10-pound increase might not be enough to make a difference, though it'd be healthier for a lot of jockeys.