Honor A.P. retired
 

Must not have been able to survive the chemicals.

He went a big trip in the Derby, I was looking forward to seeing him race again.

I've been high on this horse's future for awhile. It's a bummer that I won't get to see if I was right. At least there is no serious injury.

might explain while being asked in the beginning of the race he faded back to last.

If he was running hurt, give him credit. He got going pretty well at the end and got 4th.

I mentioned this on our podcast today...things like this are all the more reason to prefer turf racing to dirt. The horses actually stick around and compete against each other often, many times for years. I never thought I'd be one to like turf racing more than dirt but here I am.

What will a horse with 6 LT starts and 2 wins get for his stud fee?

He "faded" back to last because he was knocked sideways by NY Traffic.

We'd probably run into the same problem if turf racing became more popular than dirt racing. The best turf sires would become more valuable so they'd start retiring the best turf horses sooner.

No he wasn’t. He broke slowly and NY traffic veered right after the break that already left Honor AP behind him.

CJ do you think there is a combination of things that might effect a kinder outcome on soft tissue and bones in racers?

I can't see ever having turf races in AR, it just rains so much here. Every other turf race would be cancelled.

Breeding for longevity, breeding for stamina instead of precocious early speed, not turning all dirt tracks into hard, fast concrete-like speedways on big race days, ending the use of bisphosphonates, better balance of rest and work, and of course, using science to make better blended surfaces.

We know stress for athletes is cumulative. And of course, multi-factoral.

I know when I was running, I had different kinds of shoes. When I wore the really cushioned ones like 28mm EVA stack, I only did that on restore days, ie no speed work just leisurely stuff to give my legs a rest. Otherwise it put too much strain on my muscles and soft tissues and would have been like trying to be speedy with mattresses on my feet. But when I wanted to do fast days, I wore more supportive firm shoes with just a 21mm stack (could feel the ground beneath feet) but doing that everyday would have led to a lot of bone injuries.

This is why I liked the ideas when some of the foreign horses come over, to find out they sometimes train on woodchips uphill, or in the swimming pool, and are also given some days of what one might describe as "trail rides", ie. just walking around out in nature on a nice trail or at the yard, etc.

Seems like horses *need* this?

It seems like we keep our "dirt" horses on the same surface over and over and over too much?


We can put a man on the moon but we can't blend clay, silt, and sand into a kinder surface for horses with toothpicks for legs to run on and figure out how to properly maintain it for their physiological needs.

There is merit to most of what you say, and ask. But if you want to boil it all down to a one liner it is that there are far too few whose focus is actually on what's best for the horse rather than on what will make the most money fast.

OK, Let's agree that NY Traffic certainly compromised his chances, and in a 15 horse field, that relates to your being shuffled to the rear of the field.

I think I read somewhere that Honor A.P. is 17 hands, or very close. Bigger isn't always better.