Training For The Triple Crown: How Times Have Changed

[Patuxet]

http://www.paulickreport.com/news/ray-s ... e-changed/

[jagger]

Great Article, Patuxet. Thanks. Looks Like The Training Just Gets Less And Less. Just Hard To Imagine How They Can Maintain Fitness With So Little Work.

[Mahubah]

A good article, but at least four (and possibly five) of the horses since Affirmed were beaten for reasons that probably had very little to do with their training regimens. Spectacular Bid had the infamous safety pin issue and had to be treated for a foot infection following the race; he also received an atrocious ride from Ronnie Franklin. Real Quiet was beaten a nose after Desormeaux moved prematurely with him, and Smarty Jones was beaten a length after getting rank and moving much too soon on the backstretch. It's possible that lack of fitness played a role in these defeats, but tactical mistakes during the race itself look like the more immediate villains. Silver Charm, another near-miss loser, was beaten by a smart ride by Chris McCarron on Touch Gold; McCarron, knowing Silver Charm was a bulldog when hooked eyeball-to-eyeball, brought Touch Gold's closing run down the center of the track so that Silver Charm wouldn't see him until too late. (Silver Charm did not have the world's most robust constitution -- he was out for the rest of the season after the Triple Crown -- and probably wouldn't have been as fit and ready for the Belmont as he was with a heavier work schedule.) As for Charismatic, who broke down immediately after the finish line, chances are pretty good that he was already feeling the effects of soft tissue injury in the last furlong since such injuries very often are the immediate precursors to a catastrophic breakdown.

As Turner said, horses are individuals. It might have been instructive to know the work/race histories not just of the horses since Affirmed that have failed to complete the Triple Crown but the histories of the Belmont winners and their other rivals in the three weeks leading up to the race. (Alydar, if I recall correctly, worked the full Belmont distance at least once prior to the Belmont.)

[Patuxet]

Thanks, Avalyn, for another chock full of information post.

Allison

[jagger]

I see that CC has galloped 1 3/4 miles each of the last 3 days...not sure what he has done today. This is only 1+ week after the Preakness and it resembles neither the "old timers" regimen nor the most recent 11 pretenders for the Triple Crown but probably comes closer to "old timers"......who were actually successful in winning the Triple Crown.

It does seem that doing 1 3/4 miles at a gallop is more likely to preserve stamina than doing a 5-6 mile breeze. This workout seems to make more sense to me in preparation for the longest race any of these horses will ever run.

[jagger]

8 consecutive gallops from 1 3/4 - 2 1/4 miles with only 1 1/4 yesterday in preparation for the breeze today. This will be the last workout for many if not all of the horses but my guess is that Sherman will have him work at least once more. This is in pretty stark contrast with the training regimens of all the other horses. Anyone think Sherman might be on to something here?

[TJ]

Two more are scheduled to breeze tomorrow at Belmont, Sunday June 1st. Commanding Curve and Ride on Curlin. You can bet Ride on Curlin will put in a strong breeze....he's been trying to run off with his rider the last two days:>)
Sherman isn't going to breeze Chrome again, he will gallop into the Belmont Stakes. TJ

[BenB]

IMO, I like to see horses which have been trained miles for this kind of races. Their constitution is getting used to that, as to me sprintwork is nice but is not into relation with this kind of distance.

It is more what is used to be done overhere. Getting used to the distance, getting stamina. If your dooiing only sprintworks you be able to turn an stamina loaden horse into an sprinter, the other way around is not so easy.

[jagger]

IMO, I like to see horses which have been trained miles for this kind of races. Their constitution is getting used to that, as to me sprintwork is nice but is not into relation with this kind of distance.

It is more what is used to be done overhere. Getting used to the distance, getting stamina. If your dooiing only sprintworks you be able to turn an stamina loaden horse into an sprinter, the other way around is not so easy.

Sadly, this concept is not understood/embraced over here, BenB. A quick 5-7f is meaningless in a 12f race. It does little to maintain cardiovascular fitness, if there is much there to begin with, and is more likely to cause injury than a leisurely 2 mile gallop with 10-15 seconds of increased speed interspersed in the workout.

[erins isle]

I think his trainer knows what he is doing he's got enough experience. Nevertheless the Belmont will be very exiting to watch.