Memory Lane

[Hambletonian]

Anybody use the hose search feature on Equibase to look up the records of your favorites back in the day? Or search through the digital stuff on Kentuckiana?

One of the most startling things you will notice is the frequency with which horses raced in the mid 70's to 80's. 25 times a year, for multiple years, was not off the charts. Lots of those hard knockers pulled that off, and we we are talking about the cheapest horses at the track. Look at the PP lines if you get a chance. No ridiculous form reversals, horses probably running the same figure for weeks on end then building to a peak then slowly going the other way. Month after month.

Now look at the unbelievable horsecrud we have going on today.

Maybe, just maybe, using excess veterinary work, legal and illegal substances meant to mask pain, etc, has not done much to help racing. Maybe performing work on a horse, or drugging them to their gills, to get them to outrun their infrastructure, is not a good long term plan.

Oscar Barrera is probably the patron saint of everything that is wrong with racing today. Almost no positives, but turned 10k claimers into open allowance winners in a couple of days, with nothing but hay, oats, tender loving care, and something very, very illegal. Just like today. Everyone is innocent, no matter how statistically improbable the crud that goes on is.

Remember when you were young, and you thought greyhound racing was ridiculous. Well, I betcha greyhound racing, or whats left of it, is more honest than horse racing is today. Heck, if some of these guys trained greyhounds, they would be outrunning the mechanical rabbit. But everything is just a-ok.

Let's face it, as long as the larceny is reasonably interpretable, most serious bettors don't care because they can utilize that in their wagering. If these supertrainers had one run like Secretariat, and the next like Mr Ed, then back again, there would be a lot more screaming from the heavy hitters.

I grew up following some of the toughest horses to race on the NYRA circuit, Steelwood, Hugable Tom, Shy Hughes, Petrograd, Donzet II, Might Strong, Cumulo Nimbus, Raise The Blade, North Star, Finney Finster, Al the Sailor, Kellys Cat...I remember them like it was yesterday. Most of these guys/girls raced for a million years.

Now today, with our slots fueled purses what do we have? Better racing? No way, unless bettor means five maiden claimers a day. If horses weren't being treated like disposable crap, maybe your 10k claimers, the backbone of nthe track, would last more then 20 starts for a career and thus reduce the need for all these unbelievably bad horses to have so many opportunities to fill out the card.

Better racing through better medicine? You be the judge. Go look back at some PPs for NYRA before Lasix, and since. You tell me if we are evolving. God forbid some of these so called trainers actually had to train, and not resolve every issue with a vet. I would love to know what the percentage of a horses training cost is vet work today as opposed to 40 years ago.

It is all just a damn shame.

[Pine Tree Lane]

Anybody use the hose search feature on Equibase to look up the records of your favorites back in the day? Or search through the digital stuff on Kentuckiana?

One of the most startling things you will notice is the frequency with which horses raced in the mid 70's to 80's. 25 times a year, for multiple years, was not off the charts. Lots of those hard knockers pulled that off, and we we are talking about the cheapest horses at the track. Look at the PP lines if you get a chance. No ridiculous form reversals, horses probably running the same figure for weeks on end then building to a peak then slowly going the other way. Month after month.

Now look at the unbelievable horsecrud we have going on today.

Maybe, just maybe, using excess veterinary work, legal and illegal substances meant to mask pain, etc, has not done much to help racing. Maybe performing work on a horse, or drugging them to their gills, to get them to outrun their infrastructure, is not a good long term plan.

Oscar Barrera is probably the patron saint of everything that is wrong with racing today. Almost no positives, but turned 10k claimers into open allowance winners in a couple of days, with nothing but hay, oats, tender loving care, and something very, very illegal. Just like today. Everyone is innocent, no matter how statistically improbable the crud that goes on is.

Remember when you were young, and you thought greyhound racing was ridiculous. Well, I betcha greyhound racing, or whats left of it, is more honest than horse racing is today. Heck, if some of these guys trained greyhounds, they would be outrunning the mechanical rabbit. But everything is just a-ok.

Let's face it, as long as the larceny is reasonably interpretable, most serious bettors don't care because they can utilize that in their wagering. If these supertrainers had one run like Secretariat, and the next like Mr Ed, then back again, there would be a lot more screaming from the heavy hitters.

I grew up following some of the toughest horses to race on the NYRA circuit, Steelwood, Hugable Tom, Shy Hughes, Petrograd, Donzet II, Might Strong, Cumulo Nimbus, Raise The Blade, North Star, Finney Finster, Al the Sailor, Kellys Cat...I remember them like it was yesterday. Most of these guys/girls raced for a million years.

Now today, with our slots fueled purses what do we have? Better racing? No way, unless bettor means five maiden claimers a day. If horses weren't being treated like disposable crap, maybe your 10k claimers, the backbone of nthe track, would last more then 20 starts for a career and thus reduce the need for all these unbelievably bad horses to have so many opportunities to fill out the card.

Better racing through better medicine? You be the judge. Go look back at some PPs for NYRA before Lasix, and since. You tell me if we are evolving. God forbid some of these so called trainers actually had to train, and not resolve every issue with a vet. I would love to know what the percentage of a horses training cost is vet work today as opposed to 40 years ago.

It is all just a damn shame.

Wow that was a trip back.

At one time I think Petrograd owned the track record at Aqueduct with a win in either the Sporting Plate or Gravesend. Finney Finster was a Md. bred by Milton Polinger who used to run the biggest ads in the Blood Horse at the time. And I remember Kellys Cat was a beautiful bright roan mare.

My faves from that era were Dancing Gun, Excepto, El Pitirre, American History, Regulus, Company Commander, Piamem. Will have to go check out the old programs tonight.

[wisconsin]

Wow, never knew this was available. Looked up some horses I used to watch. Cool to see the race by race records.

[devilsbag]

Hambletonian, that might be the post of the year, or possibly the decade.

I also look back at the "old days" and can remember them vividly. I'm saddened at how I have less and less interest in racing each passing year.

You mentioned Oscar Barrera, who didn't impact the upper echelons of racing until Shifty Sheik. Not that it was acceptable, however, now it's just supertrainer after supertrainer dominating everywhere and at all levels.

I'm not naive to think there wasn't drugs back then, but it wasn't at the magnitude it is now. For those who look at it and say that it's a gambling opportunity, that's your opinion, but keep losing people's interest and there won't be much opportunity left.

Two year old champions who can't make it as far as the Derby, horses with four starts named horse of the year, and other signs of mediocrity erode my interest. However, the worst of all is the pharmaceuticals. Frankly, when I come to this forum, I'll peek at the news of the day, but I'm much more interested in threads that are historical in nature.

[Tom]

What feature is this?

[Pine Tree Lane]

Hambletonian, that might be the post of the year, or possibly the decade.

I also look back at the "old days" and can remember them vividly. I'm saddened at how I have less and less interest in racing each passing year.

You mentioned Oscar Barrera, who didn't impact the upper echelons of racing until Shifty Sheik. Not that it was acceptable, however, now it's just supertrainer after supertrainer dominating everywhere and at all levels.

I'm not naive to think there wasn't drugs back then, but it wasn't at the magnitude it is now. For those who look at it and say that it's a gambling opportunity, that's your opinion, but keep losing people's interest and there won't be much opportunity left.

Two year old champions who can't make it as far as the Derby, horses with four starts named horse of the year, and other signs of mediocrity erode my interest. However, the worst of all is the pharmaceuticals. Frankly, when I come to this forum, I'll peek at the news of the day, but I'm much more interested in threads that are historical in nature.

I followed a Barrera horse called Chiming Jet in 1985. He was bred by Fred Hooper. The horse literally started 8 times between 4/3 and 5/13. The put over was when the horse ran 3rd as the fave for a 25,000 tag on 5/3 and 2 days later ran in a $ 22,000 allowance sprint with an exercise rider (and 7lb bug) named Bobby Espinosa. He opened at 5-2 and drifted up 20 @ 17-1. Went head and head through fast fractions and came on again to win. Oscar never even left the paddock. Just walked to the winner's circle like it was common knowledge......Glory days.