Soap Box - Cut back on the two yr old races

[mlwinter]

Just a thought...is the racing world ever gonna get their heads out of the dirt?

How many two yr old racehorses are going to continue to be trashed due to trainers and/or owners wanting them to race as babies. Indiana is a good case in point. We can't realistically train in the winter here, but two yr olds are still on the track when Indiana Downs opens. Where are they training? Out of state training centers? Florida?

I just received the racing schedule for Indiana Downs and Hoosier Park in the mail.

Indiana Downs has only 10 three yr old only MSW races. Not too bad for a sixty day meet. But there are only two 3 yr old only Stakes races, both on the turf both at 7 1/2 furlongs. There are no three yr old only Stakes on the dirt at Hoosier Park or Indiana Downs....

But instead, lets run those little two yr olds in the ground at Hoosier Park with 37 races so they can't make it to the few Three yr old only races at Indiana Downs for the next year. And lets divert the money from an all ready strapped racing program to 6 two yr old stakes races at Hoosier Park. And none for the three yr olds only.

What would the quality of horses be like if the triple crown was run when a horse was 4 or 5 instead of three, we wouldn't expect a three yr old human baby to run a marathon.

I am sure it is much worse in other states, but we wonder why the Sale Catalogue pages read UNRACED. And all the ones that are only winners at two...all the horse standing Studs that are only run as two and maybe three yr olds. Lets just run them in those big races, make the dough and stand them stud. Then we are gonna over breed them, breed a hundred mares (all live cover right?) for 100K or 500K. Then sell the babies for a million dollars plus as yearlings which never step foot on a track or you can claim for 5K.

Well I guess I better get off my soap box...I just wish you could see more horses like Funny Cide, Kathir and Miesques Approval still running. When I got into racing it was for the longevity, not the quick buck like most....

[majxmom]

I think the basic problem is that the purses are so high for 2yos. I can't really understand why. Why do we reward the first 2 and 4 furlong 2yo races with $25,000 and up purses? It's easy money if everything goes right and you have your horse ready to run in the first couple of weeks in April. You can win a couple of allowances in short fields with a horse that is really a Maiden $8000 claimer if you get him ready a year later.

It seems more logical to me to spread this money more into the real $20,000 claimers that have already helped the track out by running 5 or 10 races there.

[CA Michael]

I welcome you to the soapbox I've been beating the drum on for a long time. To me, it's just common sense--but to many in our industry, this kind of talk is heresy. The state of Florida might secede from the Union if two year old racing was downsized !

[mlwinter]

Well it must be nice to have 2 and 4 furlongs races. In Indiana the two yr old races are 5 1/2, 6 and a mile. They don't start short races here. We just pull them out of the corn fields and send them to the track unless you are an Indiana owner with a farm in Florida.

[louis finochio]

I have researched the sire lines of those 3yr. olds of 07, that are leading candiates for the 1st Saturday in May.

Those leading individuals have between 9 and 13 crosses of one sire line. In the next few months after all those prep races are run, I wonder how many of those TB will be starters on the 1st Saturday in May?

[Rokeby Forever]

Everybody makes a correct point. But, maybe looking at the bigger picture - as long as people rush to breed to 2 year old breakdowns like Chapel Royale and Jump Start, 2 year old racing will never go away....the commercial breeding market thrives on it.

[Barbaro06]

The deal here is quick return on the investment. The quicker the horse can get to the track to recoup the money put into it the better. Nobody is patient to take their time with the horse. And with year 'round racing, why not have a butt load of two year old races so the payback can be even faster?

There, I said it and now I step quietly down from my soap box.

[mlwinter]

The deal here is quick return on the investment. The quicker the horse can get to the track to recoup the money put into it the better. Nobody is patient to take their time with the horse. And with year 'round racing, why not have a butt load of two year old races so the payback can be even faster?

There, I said it and now I step quietly down from my soap box.

Then what happens to all those break downs? Who is gonna feed and water them? Guess we could just turn them out along side the road, since horses are a dime a dozen...