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View Full Version : Can ability on wet tracks predict turf ability?


jeebus1083
07-04-2011, 09:11 PM
A handicapper I know on another board has been playing this angle for years, and has done OK for himself. However, is there really a correlation between wet track/turf or is it simply coincidental?

thaskalos
07-04-2011, 09:34 PM
There is no proven correlation between turf ability and ability in the mud...which explains the fact that most trainers are eager to scratch their turf starters when the rains come, and the races are moved to the wet main track.

horses4courses
07-04-2011, 09:54 PM
There is no proven correlation between turf ability and ability in the mud...which explains the fact that most trainers are eager to scratch their turf starters when the rains come, and the races are moved to the wet main track.

Agreed :ThmbUp:

I have never found any link between mud and turf ability.
There may be the occasional dual-purpose sire (the Go For Gin/Albert The Great line comes to mind), but there are not many of those types.
Generally, comparing a mudder to a horse with turf ability, is an apples to oranges situation.

Greyfox
07-04-2011, 09:56 PM
I agree with Thaskalos.
I'm not a horseman but I've heard mudders have smaller hooves.
Turf horses are wider and flatter.

horses4courses
07-04-2011, 10:03 PM
Turf horses are wider and flatter.

Turf horses have the same type of hooves as any other racehorse.
They say that smaller hooves can be a disadvantage for a horse running on a soft turf track. A larger hoof distributes the weight of the horse better on the surface, and they plough through it. That's the theory, at least.....

trackrat59
07-04-2011, 10:17 PM
I agree with Thaskalos.
I'm not a horseman but I've heard mudders have smaller hooves.
Turf horses are wider and flatter.

This is true. The wider, flatter feet have more difficulty in the mud. Horses with smaller feet can pick them up out of the mud easier.

therussmeister
07-05-2011, 08:30 PM
I'm not even sure that ability on wet tracks predicts ability on wet tracks. Chew on that for a while. :confused: ;)


What I mean is I'm not sure a horse running well in the mud at Churchill means it will run well in the mud at Belmont, or Monmouth, or anywhere else.