If a horse consistently doesn't change leads ie Alydar, I don't think trainers will worry. You worry when you have a horse who does change leads in every race all of a sudden not. That's when you start worrying and go over the horse with a fine tooth comb.
Trainers used to not have 200 head of horses to worry about, they had maybe at the most 30. They could train them as individuals, somehow (thanks to D. Wayne Lukas) the McDonalds mentality has invaded the training ranks. Come up with a formula and train every horse with it. Horses are individuals, with their own likes and dislikes. They have their own will, and if they don't feel comfortable being trained in the formula, it will take it's toll on them. Whether it's in not running well or breaking down.
I will agree, and have said so in this thread, that some of the newer practices of breeding has contributed to some of the unsoundness in the breed, but it's not the only reason. There are many factors involved and it's unfair to blame just the breeding practices.
Also, many 3 yr olds are retired to the breeding shed, so we don't know if they could continue on racing at the top level as they got older. We also don't know if any unsoundness issues would pop up as they got older, so it is a gamble breeding to them. But if you know your mare's family, and have a sound broodmare band, or know what the unsoundness problems were with your mares, you can breed her to a durable stallion to help eleviate those problems.
It's a complicated issue, not with one culprit causing it.
winds
Majestic Warrior out of Breeders Cup Juvenile
Moderators: Roguelet, hpkingjr, WaveMaster
horsenuts I have to disagree with you. They may not go as fast as the top horses, but they run hard, as fast as they can, in every race they run in. So saying that they don't run as hard isn't true. They do. They're just running with horses that have the same abilities. So what you are saying doesn't hold true.
winds
winds