Back To Normal
 

With Curlin and Hard Spun, we were made to believe that our best 3yo's could indeed still stand the rigors of the TC. Well, back to normal we are. I believe that Big Brown is done racing and will join the list of:

Barbaro, Afleet Alex, Smarty Jones, Point Given, Empire Maker, Charismatic, Giacomo, Silver Charm, Real Quiet, Thunder Gulch....I'm sure I'm missing some others.

I'm wondering when will racing fans start getting tired of our top 3yo's not making it to the end of their 3yo seasons? I know a few of them came back as 4yo's but that's after they couldn't even run anymore as 3yo's. And sure, situations like EM and Point Given are questionable as to whether they were injured or not but the point is, they didn't. Whether it's for economic reasons or injuries or whatever, when is everyone going to be fed up. Last year was an exception. This year, it's back to normal.

It will get tiring. And I think it will come back to bite racing in the ass, not suddenly, but slowly. Over time, the attention of the general public will trickle away. And I don't blame them! There's nothing to watch any more. As soon as you start to get attached to them, they're retired.

And the trend of no Triple Crowns? I've heard some talk about spreading out the Triple Crown races more to give the horses more rest time. I say NO. Why? To reward breeders who have ditched endurance and conformational strength? To encourage the trends of speed with strength and fewer and fewer starts per horse? Absolutely not. If today's horses can't pull off the Triple Crown like the horses of yesteryear, then fix the goddamn horses, don't cater to their weaknesses. Until then, let the drought continue.

As a racing fan I'm tired of it now. BUT, what am I going to do about it? Just keep watching and betting until I run out of money or the sport dies. As a racing fan, what else is there to do???

You and I have had this debate multiple times, and as usual, I totally disagree with your premise that the horses simply can't "stand the rigors of the TC." Just out of curiosity, why exactly is Empire Maker on your dubious list? He didn't even run in the Preakness. Are you NOW suggesting that running in just two of the races - five weeks apart - is too taxing for these horses? If you are going to count horses that only ran in two, why did you leave out Birdstone and Street Sense and countless others? Could it be because they did finish their years? As for the rest of your list, does it really make sense to dismiss the big races that Point Given won AFTER the TC, or the fact that Real Quiet, Silver Charm, and Giacomo all came back for winning 4yo campaigns as unimportant? I think not.

As for Big Brown, my guess would be he probably wil not run again, but that isn't because the TC ruined him....and you know it.

In my post, I said that sometimes, it's for economic reasons and not injuries. Empire Maker and Point Given were two that the economics might have had as much or more to do with them retiring as anything else. This thread wasn't only about the the physical effects of the TC, although it's my fault for saying the rigors of the TC. It's about that AND about things being so out of whack breeding wise that it doesn't make sense for them to continue on. In none of the cases where it wasn't injury that cause them to stop do I blame them. I likely would stop on the horses too. There's just got to be a better way. I don't know what that way is but there's got to be something better. And yes, I do think that the toll the TC takes on these horses is something that needs to be addressed. Some say that breeders need to get back to breeding horses that can handle it. I say that's never going to happen. I think that horse has left the barn and that instead of lamenting about the old days and how it used to be done and how it should be done, there needs to be changes made to adapt to how it is done.

Isn't the focus of the 3yo season the Triple Crown? Wouldn't you anticipate horsemen having their horses peak in the spring? What exactly constitutes a horse making it to the end of its 3yo season anyways? Didn't Thunder Gulch make more post-TC starts than Curlin or Hard Spun (curiously you left out Street Sense, who made 4)? Why do Thunder Gulch, Empire Maker and Point Given, who made multiple starts post-TC have their injuries blamed because of the "rigors of the TC"?

What is your "normal" anyways? Didn't prominent classic runners (most of whom also appeared at 4) like Tabasco Cat, Concern, Go For Gin, Skip Away, Editor's Note, Louis Quatorze, Free House, Touch Gold, Victory Gallop, Lemon Drop Kid, Fusaichi Pegasus, War Emblem, Perfect Drift, Medaglia D'Oro, Funny Cide, Ten Most Wanted, Birdstone, Brother Derek, Bernardini, and Showing Up all finish out their respective 3yo seasons in the decade or so prior to this dubious windfall year of 2007?