2yo racing. See page 28 of TrackBred-Autumn 2012

G'day all,

On page 28 of the Autumn 2012 edition of TrackBred, Tony Britt has thankfully seen fit to reproduce and comment upon a number of the findings from a study recently published in the Australian Veterinary Journal, one which closely followed the racing careers of 999 Standardbred foals which were born in NSW in the 2000/2001 season & specifically noted the racing longevity of horses that commenced their careers at 2yrs, 3yrs, 4yrs and at 5yrs.
Interestingly, the study found no evidence supporting the view that that 2yo racing has an adverse effect on a horse's career.
Not only that but it found that horses which had raced as 2yos generally had longer racing careers, they had more career starts & they earned more prizemoney than those horses from the same crop that began racing at a later age.
It then went on to suggest that the proper conditioning of yearlings and 2yos prior to the start of their racing careers may in fact have beneficial effects in relation to their long term soundness as compared to those who began their careers at a later age.

NB. Dan, this is the study that I referenced quite some time ago now but had up until now experienced absolutely no luck in tracking down. If you can possibly get hold of a copy of the magazine it one article that is well worth the read.

Regards

Jaimie

Thanks Jamie,
I'll track down a copy over the weekend and see how we go.

Cheers,

Dan

Also more likely that a more sound horse that goes good will race at 2, whereas an unsound horse that goes not so good will not be good enough to race at 2. So this finding has found that a sound horse that goes good generally earns more than an unsound horse that doesn't go as good.......not exactly earth shattering discovery.

Quote:

Originally Posted by little fish

Also more likely that a more sound horse that goes good will race at 2, whereas an unsound horse that goes not so good will not be good enough to race at 2. So this finding has found that a sound horse that goes good generally earns more than an unsound horse that doesn't go as good.......not exactly earth shattering discovery.

Yes correct. But also in terms of why it was posted, some posters said you can ruin 2yos by racing them and called for banning of 2yo racing/cut prizemoney for 2yo races. In that extreme this shows 2yo racing isn't as bad as some made it out to be.

Exactly Breno. Exactly.
Barry, if you can...get hold of a copy of TrackBred & check out the article. Interested in your thoughts.
In the interim I'll try & hit our Vet up for a copy of the applicable Australian Veterinary Journal & I'll also e-mail them for permission to scan it & post the entire study it on this site. I can't see why they wouldn't allow it.
If we had the facilities I'd be putting foals/weanlings, yearlings & rising 2yos on a carefully controlled daily exercise regime of the treadmill/water walker/jogging. I'm quite certain that it would turn out much better grown, long term sounder, certainly more evenly muscled and stronger boned horses.

http://www.horsetalk.co.nz/news/2012/02/169.shtml

link to a summary of a study showing similar results in tb's

Thanks very much for that Rena. Most appreciated.