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

Originally Posted by kentuckyrosesinmay

Looking at the performances of the horses in the thirties, forties, and fifties, I must say that I believe the biggest culprit of unsoundness in the breed are the track surfaces themselves. For example, Man O' War ran two to three seconds slower than the horses do today, and still broke world records at the time. Yet, maiden claimers can run faster nowadays. It is all about speed and new records.

In Man O' War's day ...

... there were no starting gates ... and horses were timed ... by hand ... from a standing start.

Today ... they break from gates ... are timed electronically ... and have a running start to the first timer beam.