Most Races One Year

[Jay Trotter]

Handicapping Penn National Race 6 and I came across #7 Mark Up Tiny with 26 races in the books for 2011! Wow, I didn't realize anybody ran their barns that many times in this day and age.

26 - 5 - 2- 3 $86,910

What is the record for races in one calendar year?

[Handiman]

That's just crazy. No horse should be run that many times in a year. Even track and field athletes don't compete that much and we recoup much quicker.

Handi:)

[mostpost]

Handicapping Penn National Race 6 and I came across #7 Mark Up Tiny with 26 races in the books for 2011! Wow, I didn't realize anybody ran their barns that many times in this day and age.

26 - 5 - 2- 3 $86,910

What is the record for races in one calendar year?

Seabiscuit ran 35 times as a two year old. The great nineteenth century filly Imp ran 46 times as a three year old in 1897. I'm sure there were others who raced more, but among notable horses those were the most active I found.

[FenceBored]

For the years 2000-2011 the horse with the highest number of US starts in one year appears to be Sovran Ice (http://www.equibase.com/premium/eqbHorseInfo.cfm?refno=4494635&registry=T#) a Pennsylvania bred with 37 starts in 2002. Overall, she had 82 starts compiling a stunning record of 82-5-9-12 with earnings of $77,567.

Check out Equibase's horse stats page (http://www.equibase.com/stats/View.cfm?tf=year&tb=horse) and sort by number of starts to see that there are 39 horses this year with 20+ starts, including the inaptly named Tactical Sting with 24 starts and no wins.

[Robert Goren]

That's just crazy. No horse should be run that many times in a year. Even track and field athletes don't compete that much and we recoup much quicker.

Handi:)What crazy that more horses don't do it. When I started betting, most of the starters in a race in November would at least 20 starts. Horses ran every week or two. If a horse missed 3 weeks, you knew that something was wrong with it. Now days something is wrong with almost every horse on the track according to their trainers. The owners are being taken for a ride.

[wisconsin]

What crazy that more horses don't do it. When I started betting, most of the starters in a race in November would at least 20 starts. Horses ran every week or two. If a horse missed 3 weeks, you knew that something was wrong with it. Now days something is wrong with almost every horse on the track according to their trainers. The owners are being taken for a ride.


Very well put :ThmbUp:

The breed has become wussified like starting pitchers in baseball.

[Shemp Howard]

For the years 2000-2011 the horse with the highest number of US starts in one year appears to be Sovran Ice (http://www.equibase.com/premium/eqbHorseInfo.cfm?refno=4494635&registry=T#) a Pennsylvania bred with 37 starts in 2002. Overall, she had 82 starts compiling a stunning record of 82-5-9-12 with earnings of $77,567.

Check out Equibase's horse stats page (http://www.equibase.com/stats/View.cfm?tf=year&tb=horse) and sort by number of starts to see that there are 39 horses this year with 20+ starts, including the inaptly named Tactical Sting with 24 starts and no wins.

Tactical Spring is entered next week at Penn National. I hear a well-known stable with plenty of cash to burn has been "snooping around" this 6yo and may be putting in a claim.\\Stay tuned.

[lamboguy]

if you train off a farm or training center in the mid atlantic, it is very possible to get 25 races in a year as long as you can ship the horse. the problem that i have is that when i run horses they are always stabled at a race track and the trainer has to run their horses there. quite often races don't fill and you have to wait for your condition to come up with the right distance, there is a difference between a 5 1/2 or 6 furlong race. like there is a difference between a 1 1/16 and 1 1/8. and now with all the conditions you have to spot your horses properly. you now have beaten's and double beaten's up and down mid atlantic anywhere from $4000 tags to $20,000 tags.

the way the condition books are written with so many creative races, i don't see how anyone can find 25 races in one year at a track unless that person runs the horse out of condition most of the time.

naturally it would be better for the horse to run 25 times during the year, and better for the game too. i have no idea how it can be done though. the economics of the game has allowed trainers to run the horses less frequently, not a good thing though in my opinion.

[Shemp Howard]

Tactical Spring is 0-31 in the past 12 months/1-60 lifetime. Run 4 times in the past month.

Hasn't won a race since breaking the maiden in 2008.

That's the kind of competition you have to beat at Penn National yet some stables keep losing and losing and losing.

[Steve 'StatMan']

A horse like that has to make a lot of starts to pay for itself with small paychecks - if they can get them. And many don't have the talent to compete and the physical well-being to make a large number of starts, making recovering expenses even more difficult.