There needs to be a balance and to suit lets just say we don't run the sprint events at Penrith we need racing over the sprint trip to see who is the fastest and over the derby distance 2300 or more if we key hole our juvenile events we wile breed for type and then the stayer would go by the wayside. In saying that I have reservations that Sushi Sushi would be so dominant if we just raced the mile, 2yld racing to me should be over the sprint trip and then 3yld is a graduation year where they branch out over the distance.
Your part about stayers would go by the way side .A good sprinter has to be able to stay to hold the high speed for the sprint races case in point Smoken Up, Blacks a Fake and Karloo Mick all tough and can run a quick mile when needed ITMQ can stay to a lesser extent but finishes best with a sit over the longer journey but over the mile a true sprint horseOriginally Posted by nat
Have whoever you want on but don't ever have yourself on
yeah maybe, but if a good horse draws to lead over a mile good luck even getting into the race... over a distance they have to have a breather at some point and that is when a poorly drawn horse can get into the race ie sushi sushi declared royal verdict on in the vic derby during a 46 lead time
soooo pretty much i mean a long distance not as a stamina test but as a suitable distance for good horses to be put into the race
Hi winston
Three exceptional horses that took more than several year ofconditioning to run their personal bests and off the top of my head didnt get 2yld or 3yld of the year between them ( I stand to be corrected LOL), look at it this way a juvenile that cannot sprint early 2 wasted and costly years what happens to them the knackery not many super star juviniles make it to the big show look how thoroughbred are they breed for sprinter and stayers nearly two different industries in their programming to the firstrace
Hi Nat
I agree with you there, myself i would like to see more racing for 3yr old's over the 2300m at Menangle. You often see in N.Z that there 3yr old's race over the longer trip more than our's.
Fair enough. It all depends on the track. That's why I suggested earlier that any such race should obviously go forward at Menangle. There is a BIG difference between Menangle and Melton in terms of the way the barriers play.
Menangle is wide open spaces 10 across the front 1400m & if you have the required early speed & want to get forward at the start from out wide then you can do so. Barrier draws, especially inside slots, are nowhere near as much of an advantage there as they are at other smaller tracks.
In fact, having only fairly recently focussed on the comparitive waste of time that conducting PBD sex races out there is, drawing 1-2-3 is actually a statistical disadvantage...it's getting off the topic by a fair bit but I have found that drawing any horse, let alone the fillies/mares being drawn to the inside posts against their male counterparts, actually handicaps them rather than giving them a 'lift'.
On the other hand, Melton is a narrow track with 6 across the front with trailers off the back line. Draw the front from 4 and inside and Bob's your Uncle, drawn outside of the front 5-6 or off the back & especially 8-9-10..then you're in the hands of the Philistines...but, and again as an aside, a PBD sex condition down there actually achieves what it was designed to achieve.
A Big $ Mile race for 3yo colts, 10 across the front at Menangle, is exactly what the Doctor ordered if we're looking to go down the road of producing our own locally bred Sires.
No point whatsoever in continuing to deny them the opportunity of racing over the Mile in a prestige event & putting a genuine speed badge against their name...by way of continuing to race them over distances of 2300m etc.
I'm not saying dispense with the longer events, rather I'm saying that we should give them at least ONE opportunity to rip over the mile and take a speed badge that is at least some way comparable to that worn by their US/CAN bred counterparts/competition. Currently, this is not possible.
G'day Mango,
I've got to come back to the whole point of sending them over the Mile at Menangle in the first place. How exactly does more 2300m racing for 3yo colts in any way serve to highlight, as compared to their Nthn Hemisphere counterparts, the lot of the locally bred 3yo colt aspiring to a subsequent Stud career? There are of course any number of opportunities for 3yo colts to race over distances in excess of 1 Mile in the Southern Hemisphere, there are any number of big $ Group 1 events.
To my knowledge there is not so much as a single big $ Mile race that would allow those same 3yo colts to earn a speed badge around 1:50 or perhaps sub and I am absolutely certain the best of our 3yo colts could post such times. We've got big $ racing over the Mile for 2yos (APG), for 4yos (Chariots, Taylor Mile etc) and for Aged horses (Miracle Mile)...but where is the opportunity for the 3yos?
The Derbys position on the harness racing mantle place has been shaky for a long while. IMO it fell off and shattered about 10 years ago but I can understand how some peoples opinions differ. I can see clearly how a mile race for 3 yo could greatly benefit the season. Mile racing at the top end always throws up an interesting race especially at Menangle. It is not an option though to run a derby over a mile because to me that goes against what a derby is about. While the derbys need desperate CPR I wouldn't want to be the director bringing them back to a mile. Create an entire new race ala Len Smith and watch the positive feedback roll in. Don't curse it with the derby name!
victoria derby, great northern derby still have the most prestige of any races for 3 yr olds easily!
a fast mile on its own is meaningless, the little brown jug isn't just the time on its own, its that they raced in against the absolute company best several times in one day... to build something like that in aussie would need prizemoney around half a mill plus heat prizemoney
Hey Triple
I was meaning mid wk at Menangle i went off track a bit. Sometime's mile racing can be boring but i do agree with you a big $$$$ race for 3yr old's over the mile would be good.
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