"Spaced" Races And "Fresh" Horses Are Killing The Sport

[somerfrost]

Originally Posted by Bold Brooklynite

I did research on this ... which I published on the "other" forum last year ...

... and it showed that 26 champions from the 1940s thorugh the 1960s started their 2YO careers in February, March or April ... and 25 of them ... all except Hail To Reason ... had full, essentially injury-free careers.

Now ... this may have been a Darwinian outcome ... the survivial of the fittest ... but I really don't think so.

I'm absolutely convinced that racing early and racing often is more beneficial to developing race horses into professional athletes ... than months and months of shedrow walks and three spaced races per year.

Someone please convince me otherwise ... with hard statistics.

I certainly can't, perhaps others have access to such data. There were studies done in Europe that appeared to demonstrate increased bone mass and tendon strength in horses racing early and often at two, but I understand there has been a problem with replication of results and one would think that shouldn't be the case with a "Historical" type study so...
It's just my personal feeling that pushing everything back a year would be beneficial...a moot point as long as money dictates such things (that reads as NEVER). My point remains that the problem is in the breeding...breed the best to the best and hope for the best has changed to breed the fastest developing to the most fragile and make a quick buck while the horse can still stand!