Another word on 'freshness'?

[Rupert Pupkin]

Originally Posted by Dunbar

Part of the reason we don't get it is that the best trainers from 20 years ago were running horses on 2-3 weeks rest, and those horses appeared to be running very well. We're not convinced that the breed has changed so much in 20 years or that trainers have gotten so much smarter.

And I'm sure there's an element that we WANT horses to be able to run more often that is influencing our responses, too.

--Dunbar

I don't think things have changed that much the last 20 years. I was going to the track every day back in the 1980s. Horses neded time between races in the 1980s too. For example, horses were usually tired after the Triple Crown races and usually got a couple of months off. I don't see a huge difference betwen now and the 1980s. I really don't know much about the 1960s and 1970s but from what people have said it sounds like horses were running much more often back then. It sounds like things are quite different now from 40 years ago, but not from 20 years ago.