[mark2061mn]

Originally Posted by easy goer

1. Track records. In the original post he said something like "...if you really believe that horses ran 20 lengths further today..."

Well dont they? Look at the records in MoW's day and compare them to todays. MoW who is running some of the fastest times of his day is still running some 2 sec. behind records from the 50s and somewhat more than that today.

I mean there is no doubt that horse times were slower back then and it wasnt the horses fault: track surfaces were slower, iron shoes were heavier, and the turns werent banked. There is also another thing that is not mentioned often: these jocks were often fighting each other, recall the famous photo of the '33 derby. This appears to have happened alot, although prolly not much to MoW who was usually clear of the field. (as aside, prolly the reason MoW and Sec were able to set so many records is that they usually were clear of the field and able to cut the turns so sharply, or in MoW case not have to fight through the jocks)

Another thing that really has not been talked about much is that there must have been a lot of time loss on the turns, for the above reason. One could probably study track records on straight courses, and one turn courses vs 2 turn courses, and put together a reasonable guess that these horses are losing up to a sec. or so on the turns alone.

As an aside: MoW could throw a very fast quarter in 23 sec. very comparable to modern horses (this in iron shoes!), this also makes me think again, that much of the time loss in pre-1950 racing has more to do with unbanked turns.

Anyhow, you have not put together any sort of cogent argument that horse times are some sort of delusion in those days. There are reasons the times were slower and they are objective. What you cannot deny is that MoW was setting records nearly every time he went out. SImilar to Swaps 4 yr old campaign, Secretariat's 3 yr old; Spect Bid; and maybe a few others Certainly puts him in good company.

omg, do you know what you've just done? all i can say is take cover!