Age

[Tim25]

Last year before the derby I posted a question about age and didn\'t get any response. I have been thinking about this the past week and today there is an artical on Bloodhorse listing each horse\'s age. How inportant is it this time of year with developing three year olds. Afleet won\'t even be 3 when the derby is run. Bandini will have just turned three. There a horses with 3 or 4 months on them. I think it matters. I welcome all comments.

Thanks
Tim

[jbelfior]

Tim---

You touch upon a seldom mentioned but interesting point.

SMARTY JONES was born in February. So was WAR EMBLEM, MONARCHOS, and SILVER CHARM. GRINDSTONE was born in January. CHARISMATIC was born in March as was REAL QUIET.


On the other hand, FUNNY CIDE was born in April as was FU-FAKE and GO FOR GIN. THUNDER GULCH was born in May.

Interpret this as you\'d like.


Good Luck,
Joe B.

[hossgnat]

I used to think it mattered, and often handicapped 3YOs using age as a \"tie-breaking\" factor when my choices were hard to separate.

There was a very recent article though on this very topic.  I\'ll try to find it.  The conclusion, based on an empirical analysis, was that age did not matter.

[JimP]

Age might matter. But on an individual basis the degree to which it matters would be reflected in the figures.

[Tim25]

Thanks for the feedback guys. How about when it comes to a bounce. Is a younger horse(I know we are only talking a few months)more likely to bounce off a hard effort?

[elkurzhal]

Northern Dancer was foaled May, 27th.