[Amberdawn]

Years ago, it was common to race horses more often. The best horses today race, on average, once every 4-5 weeks. To win the Triple Crown, the horse has to win THREE races in 7 weeks. It’s a strain on “modern” horses whose breeding has become more refined. Fresh horses, those that haven’t raced in a month or so, will be more likely to win, given that they’re not as worn down overall as those who have competed in all 3 races, like IHA. The Belmont is a great race for a trainer with a distance runner to try to win over IHA. Rags To Riches, a filly bred for distance, won it a few years ago after foregoing the K.Derby and Preakness.

[scram2]

I guess what so amazes me about this is the Horses are so powerful and yet takes so long for them to fully recover from the effort the put out on a race.

I wonder what the equivalent would be for a human? What action would they have to engage in which would take a month to recover from? The first thing coming to mind is a prize fight but that’s physical abuse in the sense people are whaling on each other while a Horse race is more akin to a foot race. Do long distance runners take a month to recuperate fully? I have no idea but it is very interesting and I thank you for your answer.

[jpsb]

Minor correction Rags won the Kentucky Oaks with takes place the day before the Kentucky Derby. It was an easy win for her, she did skip the Preakness and was never the same after her all out effort to beat Curlin in the Belmont. Curlin however when on to win many more races and became a 2 time Horse of the year.

totally agree about the "modern" horse, not the same as earlier horses like Forego and Kellso.