Distance and Surface Question

mehile · Postby **mehile** » Tue May 22, 2012 10:57 am

Just a quick question that's been rattling around in the back of my mind. I've got a horse in my virtual stable. Her sire is all distance and turf, won up to 12f. Her dam only hit the board in races a mile or over. Broodmare sire, same thing only winning over a mile and all but one race won on turf.

She's had 4 starts so far, all 5f to 6f and just got entered in another today for 5 1/2f. She's come in mid pack in all of them and not hit the board once. I'm just curious why the trainer hasn't tried her at a longer distance or on turf(or both). I've been thinking the trainer was just getting her "legged up" in these shorter races and then would move on to the longer ones but that doesn't seem to be the case. Is she just slow and the distance and surface change wouldn't help anything or should the trainer at least try to change it up?

karenkarenn · Postby **karenkarenn** » Tue May 22, 2012 12:35 pm

OMG I have the same problem.. I am going to send you a PM.

cewright · Postby **cewright** » Tue May 22, 2012 1:51 pm

It depends on how old the horse is. If you are talking about a 2 year old many jurisdictions limit how far they can run. For example here in Texas 2 yos are limited to 4 1/2 furlong races from March1 to May 1 and may not run 1 mile or longer until August 1. Also, the longer races are tougher to fill.

zinn21 · Postby **zinn21** » Tue May 22, 2012 4:37 pm

Some trainers misread their horses.

mehile · Postby **mehile** » Wed May 23, 2012 12:07 am

She's a 3yr old, 3 of the starts were last year. I don't know enough about the training proses to know if it's part of some plan, or like you said just the trainer reading her wrong(maybe not knowing her breeding), or maybe she's just slow. I guess that's always a possibility. :lol:

madelyn · Postby **madelyn** » Wed May 23, 2012 5:26 am

There are a whole lot of trainers out there who don't know one end of a pedigree from the other.

Sysonby · Postby **Sysonby** » Wed May 23, 2012 5:38 am

There is another possibility. I have a horse by one of the best 9 furlong horses in a decade out of a mare by a stallion which held a track record at Belmont for a mile. I was trying for a middle distance horse. I got a sprinter who has never won beyond 6 furlongs and apparently can't in allowance or better company (We've tried a number of times.)

Pedigree isn't always destiny. The horse has to tell you what they can and can't do no matter how it was drawn up on the chalkboard.

griff · Postby **griff** » Wed May 23, 2012 12:55 pm

Mehile & KarenKarenn

I suggest you ask for a meeting with your trainer[s].

If you have told them you want to go long and they ignore you, or will not give you a reason for what they are doing, find another trainer.

If you have not raised the question with your trainer i suggest you do so as the trainer is in a much better position to answer your question than anyone on this forum.

If you agree with your trainer's postion, all is well, if you do not, again, find another trainer. The trainer works for you, and right or wrong, you get to call the shots.

However, I do urge you to give serious consideration to what your trainer tells you.

griff

Jessi P · Postby **Jessi P** » Wed May 23, 2012 2:14 pm

As a trainer, you have to train the individual horse standing in front of you. Not necessarily the pedigree. For example, I dont know what the AWD for Northern Afleet's progeny are, but there are physical reasons why we keep Northern Prince at one turn when he is probably a better racehorse going 2 turns. As he has won 4 of 6 starts this year with one third something must be working.

Point being - there may well be a physical reason you can't see simply by reading the pedigree for the trainer to not have stretched the horse out to 2 turns.

mehile · Postby **mehile** » Wed May 23, 2012 4:42 pm

It's so funny, I post this and not 2 days later she's entered in a mile race. It's the day after the other she was entered in so I guess her trainer is waiting to see which one she fits in better. I guess that answers my question though, she will be getting some longer races in the future.

griff - she's not my horse just one I've been tracking in my virtual stable. (It'll be a few more years before we get on of our own to the track). I hope she goes better for them with a little distance added.

karenkarenn · Postby **karenkarenn** » Thu May 24, 2012 12:35 pm

Um griff what are you talking about? you don't know anything about my horse.........

pfrsue · Postby **pfrsue** » Thu May 24, 2012 12:48 pm

I don't think griff realized that the subject is a horse in a virtual stable, not a horse that mehile actually owns.

karenkarenn · Postby **karenkarenn** » Thu May 24, 2012 12:53 pm

your right