Quote:
Originally Posted by RolloTomasi
Essentially, the difference is that North American horses are trashed by their handlers. They are run or trained year round with no dedicated time off (unless injured) and run/trained under more unforgiving conditions (hard surfaces, tight turns, one direction, housed in urban areas). Not a particularly admirable method of conducting the sport.
There is something to be said for a delineated season between April-October, where both the horses and the racecourses get some respite. This imparts some durability and longevity that is woefully lacking here. Hence, over there, you can maintain a healthy a sprint division, a miler division, a middle distance division (10-12f), and stayer division. Here, you have about 75% of the races carded at sprint distances and a smattering of 8.5f and 9f events--all with dwindling field sizes. There are only 4 Grade 1 10f races left for open company and there might be only a pair of Grade 2s (Suburban, Hawthorne Gold Cup). If this is the tradeoff for year round racing, I'll take the former.
Some international spots still hold National Hunt and all-weather races during the winter months, but with essentially a different horse population. So its not like the sport is on hiatus by any means if people are solely interested in wagering events.
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