Are Racehorses Getting Faster- Part One

[Michael D.]

i don\'t see the attachment, but it\'s interesting that Spearmint back in 1906 ran a time fifteen lengths faster than Tabor\'s horse ran two years ago.

[Michael D.]

i see it now ....... very interesting.

[gowand]

Being 37 I can\'t remember watching Sec. run but to here the usual arguments that no horse, baseball player, basketball player or football player could ever be as good as the players or horses that I grew up with is a useless arguement.  All athletes can only be compared with thier generation.  If they dominated thier contemporaries then they can be considered great.  The difference in human athletes at the present time(as compared to 25 years ago) has a great deal to do with modern medicine and training techniques which have changed exponentially in recent years.  I think that in almost any sport the athletes in the past 20 years have changed physically at a far greater rate than any time in history.  This doesn\'t necessarilly mean that when you look at them you will always see muscle upon muscle but the ability to perform at a higher level for longer periods of time has increased dramatically.  Some of it is drugs, some is training and some is a natural occurrence over time.  Babe Ruth is the greatest baseball player of all time because he dominated his peers like nobody ever has.(until Bonds)you can\'t compare over generations.

[Michael D.]

hey go wand (i\'m assuming your name relates to go for wand), i was looking at go for wand\'s pp\'s a few weeks ago. the bel surface has changed so much, so it\'s difficult to know how fast she was compared to today\'s fillies, but, man, 1:45.4 going 9f. in my opinion, one of the greatest fillies of all time.