Training For The Triple Crown - Past Masters

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Patuxet
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Training For The Triple Crown - Past Masters

Postby Patuxet » Mon May 25, 2015 10:42 am

"He is pure air and fire and the dull elements of earth and water never appear in him; he is indeed a horse ..." Wm. Shakespeare - Henry V

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Re: Training For The Triple Crown - Past Masters

Postby jagger » Mon May 25, 2015 8:25 pm

Definitely appears that the older horses worked more than today's horses. They left out Citation's work. As most probably know, Citation's Preakness was the slowest since the distance went to 1 3/16th in the mid '20's. And Derby and Preakness a week apart? Wow!!

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Re: Training For The Triple Crown - Past Masters

Postby Patuxet » Mon May 25, 2015 11:01 pm

Triple Crowns ain't for sissies.

Trainers used to work their potential classic horses earlier and harder. They recognized that 2YO's are immature, still growing and need to be toughened up. So they raced them often specifically to stress and stimulate remodeling and promote development of bone. Alydar raced 10 times at 2, Affirmed, Secretariat and Easy Goer 9 times.

On occasion a classic horse would even throw in an extra race between the Preakness and Belmont. . Two weeks after Arts and Letters finished second to Majestic Prince in both the Kentucky Derby and Preakness he easily beat older horses in the Metropolitan Handicap. A week later Arts And Letters thwarted Majestic Prince's Triple Crown bid by winning the Belmont Stakes by 5½ lengths.
"He is pure air and fire and the dull elements of earth and water never appear in him; he is indeed a horse ..." Wm. Shakespeare - Henry V

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dublino
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Re: Training For The Triple Crown - Past Masters

Postby dublino » Tue May 26, 2015 4:00 am

Did Arts and Letters race with lasix and other drugs?

Not a smart ass question just genuinely wanting to know.
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Re: Training For The Triple Crown - Past Masters

Postby TJ » Tue May 26, 2015 6:28 am

dublino wrote:Did Arts and Letters race with lasix and other drugs?

Not a smart ass question just genuinely wanting to know.

Hi Dub,
No, at that time lasix was not allowed at the NY tracks. NY was the last state to approve the diuretic in September of 1995. The first was Maryland in 1974. TJ
Last edited by TJ on Tue May 26, 2015 6:47 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Training For The Triple Crown - Past Masters

Postby DDT » Tue May 26, 2015 6:33 am

I think we should also consider the fact that the trainer of Majestic Prince did not want to run in the Belmont because the horse was not 100%, the owner prevailed and the rest is history.

DDT

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Re: Training For The Triple Crown - Past Masters

Postby TJ » Tue May 26, 2015 7:04 am

Of interest on this topic is Mubtaahij. I've been posting the daily training of the Belmont Stakes contenders in the handicapping section. Mubtaahij is being trained similar to the style of years gone-by. Here was today's post. TJ
Mubtaahij being trained in the old style, after work's on 5/10,17,20,24 and today 5/26, he had a little blowout at the end of his gallop...going an easy 3/8ths in 42 and galloped out a 1/2 in 56. He is a handful and loving the short intervals between works.

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Re: Training For The Triple Crown - Past Masters

Postby TJ » Tue May 26, 2015 9:58 am

Also along a similar old school vain..., Baffert will give AP two breezes between the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes. He worked a 1/2 today (just 10 days after the Preakness) at CD and will breeze back (most likely) on Monday at CD before boarding a flight to Belmont Park on Tuesday, one day earlier then planned. TJ