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