It is the focus on the Derby rather than on the whole Triple Crown that is causing the problems. Everyone is campaigning their horse to be at their best come Derby Day and not giving any thought to having them prepared to go on to the Preakness and the Belmont. Two years in a row we had horses skip a March prep (Closing Argument and Barbaro) which lead to them running their best race in the Derby and then suffering a career ending injury in the Preakness. Barbaro had never even run on less than five weeks rest before the Preakness. How can you condition a horse to run on 5-8 weeks rest and then suddenly expect them to run back in two weeks off the longest and most demanding race of their life or to run three times in five weeks? I think the trainers need to take the focus off just having a fresh horse for the Derby and instead on having a horse prepared for the Triple Crown or we will just keep on seeing more horses wiped out by the Triple Crown.
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09-18-2007, 09:50 AM
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