Is the genuine FFA horse an endanger species ?

[HISGEN65]

It's something I have thought about for a fair while now especially considering the amount of genuine FFA candidates who have have broken down or passed away over the last several years.
With such an emphasis on juveniles & the pure fact that horses have to perform well above what their bodies are capable of sustaining these days to "get anywhere" both on & off the track (some training regimes must be brutal) & to keep up with the ones that aren't running on their engine alone.
I acknowledge it's been a fact of life since the dawn of time but is it a concern for the sport or am I just talking through my jatz cracker or is that just the wastage of the game that is acceptable?
It's just sad to not have seen some of these amazing animals who dont make it past 4 or 5 go on & became genuine older FFAers

[Plunge Punter]

I agree, there certainly seems to be less genuine FFA horses around. I don't think though we can blame juvenile racing. There is hardly any 2yo racing before April 1 each season now compared to 15 years ago and beyond when there was a lot of early 2yo season racing. It seems as the standardbred breed is becoming more refined the modern day horse is having difficulty in stringing together several seasons of racing. I have no research or evidence to support this, it just a personal observation. Interested to hear others views on this.

[jackthepunter]

I agree, there certainly seems to be less genuine FFA horses around. I don't think though we can blame juvenile racing. There is hardly any 2yo racing before April 1 each season now compared to 15 years ago and beyond when there was a lot of early 2yo season racing. It seems as the standardbred breed is becoming more refined the modern day horse is having difficulty in stringing together several seasons of racing. I have no research or evidence to support this, it just a personal observation. Interested to hear others views on this.

You can definitley blame 2 yearold racing in my opinion, horses are going to the races that shouldn't be their. The biggest problem is the way prizemoney is structured, country prizemoney is horrendous, so owners and trainers push horses to get their in the hope they will have half a good horse and the only way to get any money out of this sport is 2-3 yearold racing at the monment with how it is. You have a good look though most top grand circuit horse most didn't race at 2 at if they did it wasn't in top company, have a look at the times these 2 yearolds are runing now, at most meeting their the fastest times of the day, you can't tell me that doen't take it out of a horse. Most top line horses these day that have hard racing at 2-3 are in the most part burnt out by the end of their 3 yearold season if you lucky you might get a good 4 yearold year but thats generally it. And people wonder why not many 4 yearolds go on and race a ffa level or grand circuit, put simple their worn out stuffed.
Hence another reason for field sizes being small up in the grades.

[Messenger]

One little tweek I would consider to ever so slightly lessen the attraction of pushing immature horses into racing as 2yo's would be to make the Vicbred bonus for first time winners the same whether 2,3 or 4 and let's add 5. Instead of taking $2k off the 2yo's, let's add $2k to the others (you can partly fund it by not giving 2yo winners an extra $1k if they become 3yo winners too). So in short, Vicbred horses get a $7k bonus when they win their first race whether 2,3,4 or 5yo.
Standarbreds can often peak at 8yo so lets appreciate patient owners by rewarding them (and yes I know it is not much dosh)

[HISGEN65]

it is definately hard to look beyond the huge money that gets thrown at the juvenile races.Sometimes I wonder if the industry would be far better off as a whole if the huge pools of money were spread across all levels of the industry?..but I do acknowledge the need to attract breeding involvement for sure.Another factor is that the road through the ranks these days is so much tougher & longer than days gone by..a lot of lowly ranked horses are running some hideous times although not for long normally.In my opinion there is nothing like watching a quality field of matured genuine FFAers going round.Horses like Quinny are invaluable to the industry..we need to make sure we try & endeavour to have them around in the future - just my 2 bob

[Amlin]

As it stands at the moment when you win your M0 in Melbourne you can race against a horse like Smoken Up next time around, as the FFA front is now an M0 or better. It was always M4 or better but, probably as eluded to in above points, the focus on juvenile racing burns many horses out early. The drop back rule also perhaps keeps horses from getting up too high in the charts (Master Kiesey case in point)


Same has been going on for years in gallops with the Golden Slipper.


Also interesting to note a FFA at Moonee Valley in 1988 ran for stakes of $10,000 - 26 years later they are worth just over $20,000. I still feel the prizemoney scale should raise gradually per win (ie each class rise races for a bit extra). Should a C5 be racing for as much as a C0?


What the answer is, I don't know!

[Messenger]

it is definately hard to look beyond the huge money that gets thrown at the juvenile races.Sometimes I wonder if the industry would be far better off as a whole if the huge pools of money were spread across all levels of the industry?..but I do acknowledge the need to attract breeding involvement for sure.Another factor is that the road through the ranks these days is so much tougher & longer than days gone by..a lot of lowly ranked horses are running some hideous times although not for long normally.In my opinion there is nothing like watching a quality field of matured genuine FFAers going round.Horses like Quinny are invaluable to the industry..we need to make sure we try & endeavour to have them around in the future - just my 2 bob

You're right James and as Smoken stated on another thread - we need Champions
AND to have a chance to be considered a champion you have to race past 4yo

[Messenger]

As it stands at the moment when you win your M0 in Melbourne you can race against a horse like Smoken Up next time around, as the FFA front is now an M0 or better. It was always M4 or better but, probably as eluded to in above points, the focus on juvenile racing burns many horses out early. The drop back rule also perhaps keeps horses from getting up too high in the charts (Master Kiesey case in point)



Same has been going on for years in gallops with the Golden Slipper.


Also interesting to note a FFA at Moonee Valley in 1988 ran for stakes of $10,000 - 26 years later they are worth just over $20,000. I still feel the prizemoney scale should raise gradually per win (ie each class rise races for a bit extra). Should a C5 be racing for as much as a C0?


What the answer is, I don't know!

All true Kyle but we do not seem to have the bucks/income
We have left it very late (the death knell) but we really have to take it up to the gallops
Half of Austalia take an interest in them even if for a small part of the year
They know about it because it gets media saturation including free to air TV (and I do realize some of the prejudices we would be fighting)
A huge challenge I know and one that would take years but why haven't we been seriously trying to make ground on them

[HISGEN65]

how many real true bonafide FFA horses where in this year's Inter Dom ?

[Fan of Jate]

Probably the first 4