Assault

[miraja2]

Originally Posted by Cannon Shell

The horse broke down and never raced past June of his three year old year. Is that successful training? Is it possible that the horse may have been better and lasted longer if he had not been trained in that style? That he was doing well despite the methods not because of them?

That's a fair point. I guess there are two ways to look at the Belmont Stakes that year. On the one hand, Afleet Alex seemed to have a level of fitness and stamina in that race that one could reasonably give Ritchey credit for. On the other hand, it was the last race he ever ran, and I guess one could also blame Ritchey's techniques for that.
I tend to think the first rather than the second one is true, but I don't really have anything solid to base that on.