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The key difference is the condition of the horses. If Muhannak had turned up in the States looking like a Hungarian weightlifter, then maybe a few people would have raised an eyebrow
Scenic Blast is 18 plus hands high. Would look more at home in a Budweiser advert.
Do they have drugs that make horses taller as well?
Gee, it must have been a good trip over–he grew a hand or 2 higher while in UK. and as far as Choisir being a ‘monster’ he barely passes above 16 hands
I was absolutely delighted that Takeover Target was unable to run this year.
Strange sort of a person who finds delight in the fact that a horse is unwell.
To accuse the ‘colonials’ of cheating because they have been able to win a sprint race at Ascot is purely sour grapes–no one in Australia ever accused Dermott Weld of cheating when he won the Melbourne Cup with Vintage Crop and Media Puzzle–in fact the whole of Australia lauded him as on of the world’s great trainers. Of course Johnston’s record of travelling a horse to Australia for a Melbourne Cup is still ridiculed–Double Trigger beaten out of sight
Almost 50 years ago a gentleman by the name of George Ryder imported to Australia a stallion named Star Kingdom–prior to then the major racing in Australia was over a distance, however Ryder used his position in the Sydney Turf Club to create the Golden Slipper Stakes over 6f for 2 year olds–SK sired the first 5 or 6 winners and his sons went on to sire even more winners. From that time the whole landscape of Australian racing changed dramatically with precocious sprinters becoming the norm.. By selectively breeding for speed, and rearing in an environment much more favourable to greater bone growth and muscle development the modern Australian sprinter has evolved into what we see today,
Australia’s most popular race is still the Melbourne Cup over 2 mile, but it is only 1 of 4 races nation wide over that distance–at least 75% or races in Australia would be over distances of less than 1 mile. The greatest issue facing Australian horses going to UK, and NH horses going to Australia is the problem of travelling–some travel well, some don’t. Those horses who have raced in the Golden Jubilee from Australia have all been backing up from the King Stand–my understanding is that Choisir (who was extremely tough, and won up to a mile) is the only horse to ever win both.
