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