Beyer on Thoroughbred Racing

[karlskorner]

www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/sports/columns/beyerandrew/

[ridersup]

One of the best Beyer articles I've read.

What bothers me is we have lost our dominance in horse racing,basketball, golf and who knows whats next.

Emphasis in this country in horse breeding is strictly on speed and precocity. I guess its the nature of the business where a quick return on investment is necessary to stay in business.

It costs between $1,500 to $3,000 a month to maintain a horse in training. Just for fun the next time you handicap check to see how many of the horses are earning their keep. Chek out the 2002 earnings box. It may suprise you.

[karlskorner]

I was sitting with an Owner several years back when DRF published Owners earnings for the year and remarked that he had earned a little over $700K the year before, his reply "Yeah, it cost me a little over $800K "

[superfecta]

If you don't win the big races over here,The Triple crown races or any race in the Breeders cup run on dirt,the favored running surface here in the U.S.Win a few of those (close seconds don't count)and then talk how good the Euro horses are.

[cj]

There is definitely a difference in breeding for turf and dirt, and obviously US types are more inclined to breed dirt types. The biggest problem I see is the lack of durability in our horses. Not only do our horses not stick around very long, they don't run as far either. Many of our "Classic" races have been shortened in distance. The Jockey Club Gold Cup used to be 2 miles, and has now been shortened 2x to 1-1/4 miles, while the Woodward was 1-1/2 miles and is now 1-1/8 miles. Just two examples of many. I guess its an economics thing, but in the long run, it will doom racing to harness racing status.

CJ

[BillW]

I believe that there's just lots of pressure to breed precociousness (sp?) into horses for the triple crown purses. Early bloomers are typically early speed types and therefore classic dist is slowly leaving the breed. It just costs too much to wait for a classic runner to mature, and miss all the 3 yo purse money. Durability is definitely compromised by hurrying a horse to the track. Possibly there is a physiologic difference in durability between the precocious type and classic type also?