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Originally Posted by moodwalker
...... The only place that a turfer is considered a "specialty" horse, is in the USA. Are you suggesting that a turf running horse is somehow less great than a dirt horse? Or that a dirt champion is better than a turf champion?
Turf is where most all champions run.
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Well, in the United States, which is where this board is based and most of the people who post on it live, turf is a specialty. We have been running races on the dirt for a very long time. Our races of historic significance - ie, older than a few decades - are dirt races. For many generations, US thoroughbreds raced on the dirt and when they went to the breeding shed, the best breeders were aiming to produce horses that excelled in our prestige races which were all on the dirt. Only a handful of courses even had turf courses prior to the 1950s; in the big picture, turf racing is a real johnny-come-lately in the US.
Obviously, US racing is slowly changing and turf racing is becoming more entrenched. However, the pinnacle targets here are still dirt races and, generally, the best US-based horses are still campaigning on the dirt with those targets in sight. Unless that situation changes, turf champions in the US will continue to be considered by most to be specialty champions.