Quote:
Originally Posted by asudevil
Pardon me if this has been addressed but...Has there ever been an explanation as to why the F&M sprint is 7f and the boys run 6f?
|
I would offer two opinions on your question.
1. It does feel like 7 furlong is the distance the better graded races are run for fillies rather than males, such as the Ballarina, Humana Distaff, Test, Santa Monica. Where there are several grade 1's at 6f for males.
2. There has always been some talk that at 6f, and this was really rampant in the 90's that saw several high profile breakdowns in the Sprint, that 6f is especially demanding at this high level. If it had not been set at 6 for 30 years you wonder if they would not prefer it at 7f for males as well. Of course that also interferes with the dirt mile which has no counter with the fillies and mares.