Thursday is First Baby Race day

[Pedigree Ann]

Originally Posted by sumitas

My God, give the 2 year olds a break. Let em develop allready. And I'm not talkin about you Mr Shell.

We all miss the days when stakes horses races 10-12 times or more a year, raced in campaigns rather than cameo appearance. Well, those horses started racing early in the year as 2yos, a lot of them. Round Table had a couple of wins under his belt already when he won the Lafayette S on closing day at Keeneland in the spring. Affirmed and Alydar were running in May. The same horses who ran in the Hopeful ran in the Futurity and then in the Champagne.

I remember when looking at PPs for stakes races for 2yos at Memorial Day in the early 1970s and they actually had form, not just a maiden win. And guess what? These horses generally stayed sounder and raced longer than today's juveniles.