Quote:
Originally Posted by mountainman
It's critical to remember that a (reasonably) versatile horse's running style can change with the distance. I've seen lots of frontrunning route horses close with a rush in short sprints loaded with weak speeds. But when some moronic jockey attempts the same strategy in a field of strong routers-or even, sometimes,at 6 furlongs-the animal WILL come up empty. This happens ALL the time. Riders (and trainers) fall in LOVE with whatever tactic worked (or nearly worked) most recently, but often don't understand just WHY it flattered the performance.
Stamina is rarely the main determinant in a horse's distance preference. It's often more about tempo and , especially, field complexion.
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You know, this is one of the things that has always stuck out to me about running styles being intrinsic, the preferred position in the herd and all. Front running sprinters can often turn back and run midpack and win Pressing and even midpack sprinters will many times go wire to wire and win. Is it the horse or the humans determining running style? I know there are are headstrong horses that will try to lead at all costs, but outside of those, I tend to think it is human. Same with deep closers. Maybe it isn't a style at all. Maybe they are just too slow to keep up early?