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Originally Posted by King Glorious
Can anyone tell me what were the reasons to continue racing her? Don't get me wrong though. I'd rather see them continue on than retire too but honestly, there is no more reason to continue racing her is there? We see many cases where the connections say, especially with females, that they are just looking to get some black type and the ultimate would be a grade one win. Well, she's got a couple of grade one wins and she's proven herself among the best of her generation. For a female that you are looking at as a broodmare prospect, what else is there to prove? Historically speaking, the most successful racing mares are not the ones that go on to be the most successful broodmares. I think it's because of all of the stresses and drugs that come with racing. Look at a list of the top 10 horses in each division this year and tell me how many come from mares that were grade one winners. And it should be noted that the main purpose of the entire Darley operation is breeding, not racing.
For the fans, there are reasons we would want her to continue. For the new owners, there are none.
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The only reason I could think of would be if the people that made these decisions actually liked the sport of horse racing.
I guess in some ways you might be right. These days it is probably crazy to think that owners should actually like participating in the sport. I think this whole sport got started with two guys saying to each other, "my horse is faster than your horse." Somehow, that has a better ring to it than the current, "I can find a soft G1 race for my horse, win it, and retire the thing while your stupid animal will still have to race!"
There was "no reason" to run Personal Ensign as a 4yo after she won G1s at ages 2 and 3, but her connections decided to do it anyway. I guess some people actually did like the sport of horse racing once upon a time. The folks at Darley clearly do not.