BSF 'Doldrums': Figure Dives

[Linny]

Originally Posted by saucon17

I never understood why they think that, you would
think you would want to win every Derby prep you
enter in. In this sport isn't the idea is that you want
to be the first past finish line.

Obviously people in racing want to win each time they "send them over" but in terms of bringing along a horse for a big race, in many cases winning isn't everything. If the goal for the spring is the Derby, it's silly to say you don't care if you win the preps yet it's the DERBY that you want. You may need to put some education into a horse, teaching him to rate, or run inside rivals. The preps are just that, preparation. It's when trainers are tweaking equipment, finding the right rider, learning the horse's fine points.
To bring this back around to the "figs" end of the discussion, ask Ragozin or Jerry Brown or any of Beyer's guys who will win the Derby. They will all say "A colt ready to step up to the best race of his life." The plan in the preps is to have a horse ready to improve one more time to win the big dance.