Top stakes horses getting...slower?

[phil23]

Good column by Jerardi on how the top speed figs for the top horses the last few years have been, well, not that fast.

http://www.drf.com/news/jerardi-top-figures-thing-past

Of course there have been some fast ones, especially on TG, like Midnight Lute and Quality Road for instance, but more to the point going forward, has anyone else noticed how slow the 2yo seem this year so far?

Union Rags and Secret Circle both run 2\'s that win BC races.  Discreet Dancer just ran a big one but who knows how far he\'ll go.  Hansen never faster than a 6.  Who knows if we\'ll ever see JC\'s Pride or Overdriven again.  Couple of other sporadic 1\'s or 2\'s, but never any progression and always bounce big.  

Is it possible that next year\'s derby winner has yet to hit the track?

[Ntheiroff]

Do you think that the banning of steroids may have had something to do them getting slower?

[sighthound]

Steroids do not make a horse faster.  In fact, there\'s a documented trade off, and that is to lose a bit of speed.

The Thoroughbred horse probably hasn\'t changed as much as tracks have.

[miff]

\"The Thoroughbred horse probably hasn\'t changed as much as tracks have\"

Sight,

I only wish I knew how to put up the lifetime pp\'s of Dr.Fager and discuss the ahem,modern figs.Track speed/composition/maintenance of course included.Pound for pound Dr.Fager was arguably the fastest horse that ever lived, entire body of work considered and of course speed figs.

Most dirt tracks are slower by composition/maintenance today, more so since the Eight Belles breakdown.Santa Anita dirt,being tweaked fairly often, might be the exception by accident,they wanted it slower.

Breakdowns, owners/horsemen/public outcry, has forced tracks to abandon the wow  surface factor, i.e.freaky fast raw times run by fast horses on glib surfaces.Seen the horses and studied the figures like forever and conclude Beyers figs have stayed in range of old figs but are faster overall with very few monster Beyer figs compared to back when. Rag figs have gotten faster,TG figs have gotten much faster, the horses???

I fall on the side that horses are overall marginally faster(esp todays claimers vs yester-years), though for whatever reason, turf horses from todays modern gene pool have become common slowish slugs,for the most part, not improving a step overall, a few exceptions.

Exhume Dr.Fager, he\'ll still embarrass these slugs.

Mike

[sighthound]

Washington Park, the first track I ever went to ...

1968, old Arlington:  Dr. Fager, 134 pounds, 1:32 1/5, Phil Georgeff.   Gawd, what a horse.  What a horse.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wVBNbmcaAE

And let\'s not forget, there was virtually no drug testing.  Catching bute in Dancer\'s Image was a big, big deal...

[miff]

Beth,

If not a freak of nature,then surely \"helped\" Nerud super slick.Dr had a knee issue you know and there was always a sacrificial rabbit in there to soften him.  

Seen them all, 60\'s on,very few come close to running as fast, all things considered.


Mike

[TGJB]

You young kids are soft, you have it so easy today, used to have to walk 100 miles through the snow to school every day, talk about slow tracks...

[phil23]

So Much for JC\'s Pride.  Rough game.

http://www.drf.com/news/hot-2-year-old-prospect-j-cs-pride-euthanized-after-illness

[sighthound]

You young kids are soft, you have it so easy today, used to have to walk 100 miles through the snow to school every day, talk about slow tracks...

And never popped a splint or bucked shins doing it!

[sighthound]

That\'s sad.  Too bad.

[fasteddie]

The \"Doctor\" IMHO, is the fastest racehorse since 1960; his 1968 season is one for the ages, and his last three races are stuff of legend. You could only beat him with a rabbit, and no horse who dare hook him early, ever beat him. The world record mile is one thing, but winning 4 championships in the same season is INSANE! Sprint, Turf, Handicap and HOY. He carried weight, won the Brooklyn at a mile and a half....there was nothing he could not do. As great as Damascus was, he never beat him on the square. In the 1967 Woodward the \"race of the century\" including HOF Buckpasser and Damascus, they ran THREE rabbits at him, (Handsome Boy, Great Power and Hedevar) and he STILL finished third! Man, do I miss him!

[sighthound]

Boy, is that ever true: \"You could only beat him with a rabbit, and no horse who dare hook him early, ever beat him.\"

Hear, hear.  Well said.  Dr. Fager is right up there with Secretariat in my book. Legend.

\"I only owned one horse that could run, and that was Dr. Fager\" - John Nerud

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfV0ukqPX3g&feature=related