"It’s also true that American thoroughbred racing demands more of its animals at an earlier age than other countries’ systems do. The breakdowns that dismay the public invariably occur in the 2- and 3- and 4-year-old races, to animals that have for the most part been in training since they were 18 months old. Barbaro was a 3-year-old running in the Preakness. Two fillies who broke down at Churchill Downs before Breeders’ Cup cameras a couple of years back were 4-year-old mares. A lot of these injuries occur because the bones are already weak from the stress of persistent training long before their skeletal structures were mature enough."
Jim Squires may have a fine record as a breeder but he like so many others in the industry pass along untruths as facts.
The first sentence "American racing demands more of its animals at an earlier age than other countries" is fiction. European 2 year olds are on average campaigned much harder than our 2 year olds, running with more frequency and at earlier age. Is he suggesting that Barbaro and the fillies at the Breeders Cup who were 4 are too young to be racing? The theory that the horses skeletal system was weak from early training is disputed by every study ever done. Should human athletes not compete or train until they are into thier 20's and fully mature?
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