Allen Jerkens Interview
 

Nice interview, I dig old school cats like him.

Question, he mentioned in the interview that they used to gallop horses over muddy surfaces with pebbles and he mentions that they never broke down. He then goes on to say that tdays tracks are groomed to perfection and they break down.

Your thoughts?

In general, today's horses just aren't as sturdy as they were 50, 60 years ago.

Too much speed bred into them at the expense of stamina and durability

Way too many unsound stallions around

The shortening of classic dirt races like the JCGC was a huge mistake, in my opinion.

Twelve furlongs should be the American classic distance … not ten.

We have one classic 12f contest for 3-year-olds in early June … then nothing for the rest of the season.

Ridiculous

Doesn't matter what they run on … until breeding practices and drug policies start changing for the better … breakdowns will continue at a relatively high rate.

A well thought post sir...here's a brief video about the challenges of training. Although Mr Jerkins is not interviewed it's still good.
http://www.nyra.com/backstretchbuzz/...retchbuzz.html

That was really interesting; thanks for posting the link.