Why is it harder to win gate-to-wire on turf?
 

One of the characters ask this question to Johnny V on the last show of Horseplayers, I believe. His answer didn’t make sense to me, I don’t remember exactly what he said (maybe someone here does) , but I remember his answer didn’t satisfy me.

So why do you think that it’s harder to wire the field on turf? I had always thought that you had to be more careful when running on grass. An analogy I can think of is that suppose one is running on a sandy beach. If you try as hard as you can right off the bat, you will dig up sand , it will be more tiring, and you will waste energy(i.e., “spinning your wheels”) , and therefore be more tired at the end. So you have to more careful when running your horse on grass, for the same reason – don’t burn him out trying get to the lead. No? Ok, so what is it? Or is this just an old wives tale(and maybe it's not harder).

Kickback. Closers don't have as much kickback so they can sustain a late move.

I'd say that you're basically correct. The footing is more tiring, and places more of a premium on conserving energy in order to last the distance. Horses that exert themselves too much too soon (especially if they have to compete for the lead) are less often able to maintain an early lead to the wire. (Just my opinion.)

I'm not sure I'd say the footing on turf is more tiring. Times on firm turf are generally faster than times on fast dirt for the same classes. And seems to me if times are faster, that is less tiring.

As someone mentioned, kickback is a bigger issue. I think it makes it tougher to draft. On turf, with no kickback, horses tuck in behind and conserve energy.

I would say that on soft turf, although times are obviously slower, front running types are not at a disadvantage.
A horse with a liking for give in the ground left loose on the lead can, very often, be hard to catch -
provided the early pace was not too taxing.

Closers can have a tough time on soft turf.

To me, front-running on dirt is most successful with an even, well-rationed distribution of energy, whereas grass racing is more about accelerating on cue at critical junctures. That might seem counterintuitive since turf fractions generally unfold in the more evenly-distributed manner, but it's the bursts facilitated by and WITHIN those softer fractions that really decide grass races. There's a reason the term "quicken" originated overseas and denotes an invaluable ability unique to turf horses.

In other words, pent-up energy is a more potent weapon than speed.

Turf is not harder to run on than dirt, if both are dry, it's easier. As has been mentioned, kickback is not as bad on turf as dirt so jockeys don't have to worry so much about laying off the lead a bit, and then maybe the horse not wanting to close into kickback as on the dirt.

There is also the factor of turn radius being generally tighter on the turf courses, in the US, because they are inside the dirt course. It's harder to carry speed into and around tighter turns.

I remember when the great Ouija Board got beat by Intercontinental who
seemed got the lead early to prevail over many great turf horses .
Ouija Board didn't get there on time .
This is the danger when betting turf races the best of them can run out of
real estate .
With those narrowed courses there seems to be may ways those closers
can get into trouble . Frankel seemed to have Intercontinental ready to
outrun her rivals if need be . But this horse was versatile enough to close
from the back of the pack when needed also .

My guess is dirt is the most tiring surface and hardest on closers. Deep sand would be hardest for a human athlete too. Aws has also kickback but still favors closers too. Dirt is the "abnormal" surface, where early lead can set the pace and win. If all have much left at the stretch having had the lead may not be an advantage.

It is a tiring surface for horses not bred for it.Horses bred for it tend to be stamina oriented which is not bent towards expending energy that way.But the ones that can do both IMO are the best bet,if not my favorite bet in this game.They nearly always pay high odds and will likely never get pressure as opposed to dirt.

Based on my experience on betting at bullrings of 4, 5 and 6 furlong tracks, I do not think that is true.

Yeah, I don't either. At Fairplex, just bet the inside horse with speed.

It's simple physics Robert, centrifugal force causes horses to be pulled away from the inside, which means they have to work harder to stop that from happening, which means they have to expend more energy in the tighter turns than what they would on larger radius turns. I have no supporting evidence, but I doubt you do either, common sense tells me horses will drift away from the inside more, the tighter the turns are.

I didn't say that was the reason for fewer wire to wire winners, just that it is a factor the jockeys have to take into consideration on turf. Do they want to give up the rail in the turn and maybe not have enough energy left to finish strong? Why do horses in turf races group up more in the final turn causing a cavalry charge down the stretch? Is it that the jockeys just don't want the horse to run faster in the turn, or is it that they don't want to give up the ground on the inside?

As I said, I don't have hard facts just my thinking on the subject.

I have always thought it was because horses slide more when landing on dirt so it is easier for them to take a break in effort when they get clear without losing momentum.

My two cents. I think that because most races are won off the pace on the turf these days, just like when it comes to artificial surfaces, many jockeys and trainers with the best horses in the race will use this as part of their game plan. Unless the horse is a need to lead in order to win type, they'll take back. Plus, it is one less thing to overcome if the horse's owner thinks after a loss: "What the heck, you went to the lead and horses don't usually go wire to wire anymore. Why did you do that?"

In other words, coming from behind on artificial surfaces and turf with the best horses have become more pronounced today than ever before.