Both of those are pretty accurate. All Thoroughbreds’ birthdays are on January 1 of the year they were born. So hypothetically, if Eight Belles were born on December 31, 2005, she would have been registered as having the birthday of January 1, 2005, and would have been 2 1/2 years of age instead of 3 years old.
Fast legs are rarely sturdy legs, also. The sole quality looked for in race horses is the ability to race, so sturdiness is rarely a quality that is bred into these horses.
I blame greed.