3 yr olds without steroids

[Altanbarr]

Does anyone think the low speed figures and generally lackluster performances of this year's three year old crop is attributable to the reduced use of steroids?

[LB]

No.

The playing field was level when many of the top horses were on steroids and it's equally level now.

As to speed figs, I've never been able to understand why so many people set such store by them. It's a subjective and arbitrary system that benefits heavily from hindsight. Who knows, maybe this year's 3yos will go on to race well next year and all the 2010 speed figs will be upgraded.

[ratherrapid]

i am able to see neither "lack luster performance" or low speed figures. maybe u could specify. this is a pretty good crop of horses to me. certainly average, and possibly well above. we are without any top training performances this year, which is a difference, short of Borel being the defacto trainer of SS as he was with the prior SS and MTB.

[Altanbarr]

Super Saver got a 104 this year. Below is a report from just prior to this year's Derby.


Explainer: Beyer Speed Figure

The Beyer Speed Figure is a rating assigned to every race by every horse in the United States and is incorporated in the Daily Racing Form past performances. It takes into account the time of a horse's performance and the inherent speed of the racing surface. The average winning Beyer Speed Figure in the Kentucky Derby is 109. None of the entrants in this year's field has yet earned a number higher than 101.

Winning Derby figures since 1987:
Year Horse BSF
1987 Alysheba 104
1988 Winning Colors 113
1989 Sunday Silence 101
1990 Unbridled 116
1991 Strike the Gold 107
1992 Lil E. Tee 107
1993 Sea Hero 105
1994 Go for Gin 112
1995 Thunder Gulch 108
1996 Grindstone 112
1997 Silver Charm 115
1998 Real Quiet 107
1999 Charismatic 108
2000 Fusaichi Pegasus 108
2001 Monarchos 116
2002 War Emblem 114
2003 Funny Cide 109
2004 Smarty Jones 107
2005 Giacomo 100
2006 Barbaro 111
2007 Street Sense 110
2008 Big Brown 109
2009 Mine That Bird 105

The Washington Post

[ratherrapid]

Sunday Silence 101
Alysheba 104

[Altanbarr]

Sunday Silence won in 2:05 in 1989 and Alysheba won in 2:03 in 1987, both slow times. Maybe they are from the pre-steroid era.

[karenkarenn]

Well I think that there is some info that is conviently missing. Sunday Silence and Super Saver both ran on a muddy surface. Yes they had a lower buyer because of the surface they ran on.

[NORTHSTAR1]

they just set two new track records at woodbine on the weekend including 1:20 for seven furlongs-----i assume they were steroid free --

[Altanbarr]

Two new records on a weekend more likely means the surface was very fast, not that two superhorses happened to show up on the same weekend.

[Altanbarr]

Well I think that there is some info that is conviently missing. Sunday Silence and Super Saver both ran on a muddy surface. Yes they had a lower buyer because of the surface they ran on.

Monarchos ran a 116 in the mud. When they calculate Beyers, they adjust for how fast the track is running on a particular day.

[ratherrapid]

do horses run better on steroids? Any opinion? Interesting Q.

I have talked to several body builders about the situation, and each relates a significant performance enhancing effect associated with steroids. I'd suspect without knowing that roids in horses have a two fold effect--1. it takes less effort per stride because the muscles are stronger, and 2. there is increased endurace because there is less effort per stride.

However--the body builders I talked to agreed that roids work in concert with training. if you e.g. use roids as a substitute for training the you get a much lesser effect. And, since we know that the vast majority of our trainers train as little as possible, the overall effect of roids in horses possibly would have been less than it could.

Nevertheless, would be interesting to see a comparative study between times now and in 2008.

[Altanbarr]

do horses run better on steroids? Any opinion? Interesting Q.


Nevertheless, would be interesting to see a comparative study between times now and in 2008.

Take a look at these performance figures from the Chef de Race site and see if you notice PFs dropping off significantly in 2009, after the Big Brown controversy.

http://www.chef-de-race.com/pfs/ten_bes ... routes.htm

[ratherrapid]

that is interesting. i see where you are coming from on this! I am one who believes steroids in horses would be a powerful performance enhancer. but, it is only a belief. Someone might need to step up: when my horse raced without steroids it was as fast as a Missouri Mule. Then I gave it steroids and then it won the Preakness.

[Hold Your Peace]

Steroids don't make a horse faster, they just help them stand up to hard training and racing better.

In the sense that a horse on steroids is liable to recover faster from a strenuous race then down the line I guess you could say they're enhancing the horse's performance.

So rather than looking at Derby speed figures, a more meaningful analysis would be the way horses who ran in all three legs of the Triple Crown performed in the Belmont with the aid of steroids versus horses not aided by steroids.

But then again, there are a number of medications that are still perfectly legal, which have some similar effects to the steroids that were banned as far as helping horses reover faster from strenuous races.

[madelyn]

Steroids, Equipoise in particular, also altered the horse's behavior, making the mildest-mannered horses into very aggressive animals. Sometimes this was the only thing missing in that horse for it to win - sort of false heart.