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

[Rupert Pupkin]

While I accept (reluctantly) Rupert’s contention that contemporary horses need more time than horses racing just 20 years ago, I don’t think it necessarily follows that the scheduling now in favor is the optimal one. It may no longer be optimal to bring horses back on 2-3 weeks rest, but it may be as good or better to bring them back on 4 weeks rest than to let them sit out for 5-8 weeks. I expect that the spacing will continue to be adjusted in the future, just as it has been adjusted over the last half-century.



--Dunbar[/quote]

In general, to give a horse 8 weeks between each race is definitely too much time. It obviously depends on the circumstances. If you're shipping a horse all over the place, the horse will need more rest between races. But for your typical horse, 4-5 weeks between races is fine. If the horse had a really hard race, you may want to give a little more time. In general, 4-6 weeks is a good amount of time between races.