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Still more than a week aay from the begining of June and we have 2-y-o’s running over 6-furlongs.
Too far too soon.
Here we have Bell’s Ocean running at Nmk today, the thrid time in fifteen days. Ok she won today but is that not an auful lot to put an animal through so young?
After all she is only around 780 days left her mother’s womb.
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So no two-year-old should run over further than five furlongs?
Don’t think Tom’s saying that, he’s saying that six furlongs at this stage is too far.
He may well have a point.Here we have Bell’s Ocean running at Nmk today, the thrid time in fifteen days. Ok she won today but is that not an auful lot to put an animal through so young?
After all she is only around 780 days left her mother’s womb.
There have been some very precocious two year olds over the years, notably Timeless Times, Provideo and Spindrifter. There is some evidence that a forward two-year-old can run a sequence of races without taking a huge amount out of themselves.
Like all ages of horses there will those that stand race after race, and those who need a rest. The two-year-old relies on early strength and precocity as do some human athletes who shine at school but struggle when the rest of the age group catch up.
I’m not sure that the step up to six furlongs is necessarily a problem since five and six furlong races generally use the same kind of energy. I susepct there’s more fo a problem with a quick move up to seven furlongs, and seven furlong races also start earlier these days. A breeder driven agenda perhaps?
Rob
Don’t think Tom’s saying that, he’s saying that six furlongs at this stage is too far.
He may well have a point.Henrythenavigator won a 7f maiden over 7f on May 6th. Didn’t do him much harm. Or Landseer, a fellow classic winner Landseer who won over that trip on the 16th May as a juvenile.
I think 7f is too far too soon for some. But when you consider many horses dont make the track over any distance as 2yo’s then its really down to treating each horse as an individual.
If your 2yo is ready to race and strong enough for 7f then go for it…if not then wait for later in the year.
Interesting that Royal Ascot still has unusual conditions for the Chesham Stakes over 7 furlongs – the runners have to be by a sire who has won over 10 furlongs or more.
OK, horses are still developing at three but I feel that it is time the racing industry took more account of the welfare of the horse and should start with the 2-year-olds.
I know I will be shot down by the following statement but I feel that there should be no 2-y-o races till the end of Jun/July, let these babies, and that is what they are, get a little sun on their backs and be that little bit older before their racing career begins. Aso only 5/6 furlong races during their two-year-old career.
Yes, a radical change, a really radical change and probably too much for the racing world to take in. Most of you will be spluttering in your pints of Guinness / gin and tonics but if the horse has to be put first, and it will have to be put first eventually, then their will have to be big changes made.
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Yes, a radical change, a really radical change and probably too much for the racing world to take in. Most of you will be spluttering in your pints of Guinness / gin and tonics but if the horse has to be put first, and it will have to be put first eventually, then their will have to be big changes made.
No spluttering here. The notion is more baffling than anything else. If your criterion is "putting the horse first" then, logically, you should be suggesting it’s cruel to ask them to extend themselves athletically at all, at any stage of their pampered lives.
Perhaps you see the ultimate aim ought to be breeding horsey equivalents of the Couch Potato, sipping their Newcastle Brown whilst watching the Footie? It’s not clear what that has done for humans, let alone horses.
Seriously: what evidence do you have to demonstrate that the wastage rate amongst 2-y-olds is any higher than amongst 3, 4, 5 …. or 12-y-olds, come to that?
Some horses are bred to be precocious early in their careers, and they have dominance at this stage of their careers over the later developers. Why not run them as much as possible before they are swallowed up by progressive sorts?
The French are quick to get their precocious part-breds jumping – often running over hurdles and even fences in the spring of their 3yo careers.
However they are comparatively slow to get going with their 2yos and tend to put more races on for them at the end of their season. Their "early season" 2yos tend to aim at Deauville in August whereas we aim at Royal Ascot in mid June.
Racing has opted for quantity – not quality over the past decade.
Some 20-years ago owners and trainers were were bemoaning about poor prize money in this country. They wanted change and change they had.
More racing, all weather racing, jump and flat season lasting all the year round. All that equaled poorer prize money – which went against what they were moaning about.
Public opinion FORCED changes in the Grand National and the use of the whip. How long till public opinion FORCES 2-y-0’s an extra few months to mature?
Would it not be better for the racing industry to make changes be fore public opinion FORCES these changes?
Is a few extra months too much to ask for the animal the industry claims to love?
The way the industry is plummeting donwards at the moment it would not surprise me to hear that all wether racing will be having its first 2-y-o race on 1st January.
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Would it not be better for the racing industry to make changes be fore public opinion FORCES these changes?
Is a few extra months too much to ask for the animal the industry claims to love?
Well "your opinion" may not equal "public opinion". And as yet, you have provided absolutely no evidence to support your idea that racing 2yos before July is cruel. Emotive rhetoric does not cut the mustard.
What about the yearlings that come through the ring and they look like 2-y-o’s. They may have plenty of muscle but the bones have not properly developed
What about the yearlings that come through the ring and they look like 2-y-o’s. They may have plenty of muscle but the bones have not properly developed
Well if they are that fully developed then they will probably be out quite soon in their 2yo career if they take to training.
It may be worth remembering that just because a horse isnt on the track doesnt mean that someone isnt riding it full pelt up the gallops…
All
the recent scientific research which has been done on the early racing of thoroughbreds indicates that, leaving aside the big or backward types, it actually benefits bone growth and makes horses sounder.
Of course, you don’t want to see early 2-y-os over-raced, and the recent fad for running 6f and even 7f races in May gives some cause for concern, but in general I don’t see any evidence that 2-y-os’ welfare is being compromised.
Certainly you used to see far more 2-y-o runners in March-April-May fifty or more years ago than now. In those days a far greater proportion of 2-y-o races were run over 5f than is the case these days.
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