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Are you presuming that he knew that he was competing in a higher class race and just quit in deference to his superiors?
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I am presuming that there's more going on in races than the paces and trips we can easily measure.
When horse "x" has good figures, moves up in class, and doesn't run well, the standard excuse is "he bounced", "he went off form". Sometimes that happens. But what also happens is that the horse could not duplicate his figure when faced with tougher competition and conditions.
All else being equal, horses that run similar figures are not always actually similar. Some of them have deeper reserves of speed and stamina that are only called upon when the conditions are tougher (overcoming a less than ideal pace, running against a bias, getting good position in a bigger deeper field, battling with another horse etc..)
These are actual physical differences in horses that are NOT always apparent in the speed figures.
Stick 2 horses in the same kind of soft spot and they might both run a 100 Beyer.
Stick the same 2 horses in a tough spot, one of them will be able to run the 100 again (or close) and the other will get outrun, fold, etc..
Also, you can't always know what the horse has in reserve until it's challenged by tougher horses.
1. Some will hold their own.
2. Some will fold.
3. Some will show they are capable of running even faster.
#3 is rare, but it comes up among very lightly raced well bred horses all the time. That's what makes those races so tough. You know how fast they've run against other maidens and limited winners, but you don't always know who will beak out and who will fold when you throw all the best ones together and it's a much tougher race.