Quote:
|
Great post. Did Forego ever miss a race - at least once a month under 130 pounds or more?
|
Actually, yes. He missed the end of the season due to injury in all of his later years on the track.
1975: Injury to leg prevented JCGC participation
1976: Ankle trouble; dropped from JCGC consideration days before race
1977: Ankle injury prevented likely starts in Marlboro Cup and JCGC.
Quote:
I read that the average horse makes 7 starts per year...
Yes, it makes sense to space races and yes an extra week off probably is beneficial but why can't we get 9-10 starts per year?
Horses are being ruined by these early 2 year old sales which a horse runs 11 seconds per 1/8 mile and their knees aren't even closed yet. The horse then starts in April in Keeneland in MSW races and we never hear about them again after they are 3...
?
|
We're down to about 6.5 starts per season now. There has been a decline in the average number of starts per season every year since 1992 and a general trend toward it since the early 1960s. 2YO-in-training sales probably have nothing to do with it, considering that back in the 1960s, when horses averaged more than 10 starts a year in this country, it was perfectly normal for 2YOs to be running in real races in January and February. Decent horses on good going routinely covered 3fs in 33 and change and faster. I started a project of studying the future race records of these horses and ran out of time before I got very far, but found that a large number of the horses I'd checked up until then went on to have long careers.
Quote:
|
I don't know if the breeding has anything to do with it or not. The predominant Mr. Prospector - Northern Dancer outcross which appears in over 90% of horses bred today may or may not contribute to speed and the lack of durability....
|
Two words: Native Dancer. That pretty much covers the Northern Dancer/Mr Prospector axis, as Native Dancer is the grandsire, through unsound offspring, of both. However, it doesn't help that pretty much every breeding line that once produced durable horses has been discarded as unfashionable.