"Do We Need a Sturdier Racehorse?"

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by reese

I heard Bob Baffert radio interview some years ago (WE era)and he was asked to elaborate on this similiar issue.

Baffert's take was 50-75 years ago top pedigreed horses raced against each other a few times while the rest of while of the fields they competed against were inferior via a vis breeding. In those days, there were more inferior pedigreed horses racing against top horses THAN today.

Baffert stated that the breeding industry expanded...and your horse today(circa 2001) is racing against similarly pedigreed horses...a level playing field if you will. In the past, the top horses raced against a field of "inferior" bred horses more so than today's racer who faces competition of the same caliber.

I dont know how this could be determined since horses were bred and raced in such a different manner than they are now. There may be some truth to what he is saying but I have never heard this theory before. Stakes horses were far more likely to tune up in allowance races which may be wht he is referring to.