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Post by trackrat on May 17, 2007 7:26:27 GMT -5
Joe Muscara and Virgil Morgan have been racing a number of imported New Zealand or Aussie horses this spring and they ALL seem to be top flight, competitive race horses, ready to go on the first outing. It would seem like a big gamble to buy these horses and bring them to the USA unless you were a really good judge of horse talent. Obviously, we all know that Virgil Morgan is sharp, but I cannot recall one of these Aussie horses flopping. It seems like they are sturdier horses than American horses.
Do Aussie horses train harder than USA horses, longer distances, more stamina, etc., because of different quality tracks or other factors? Maybe Keith has some insight.
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Post by jay44224 on May 17, 2007 9:14:42 GMT -5
One thing is they start their horses at an older age- with that they are less likely to get injured or break down while they are still growing
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Post by chris on May 17, 2007 9:21:19 GMT -5
Australian racing differs from North American racing in that distances are generally above one mile and horses are classed by how many wins they have. Another large difference is that in Australian racing the leader does not have to hand up the lead to any horse that challenges, often leaving a horse parked outside the leader in the "death seat" or simply "the death", as this horse covers more ground than the leader. Australian racing generally has more horses in each race, a field of 12 or 13 is not uncommon. This generally means that with the smaller tracks a "three wide train" starts as the field gets the bell at signal their final lap.
New Zealand racing is quite similar to that of Australia. Many horses are able to easily cross the tasman.
In both New Zealand and Australia the same system of an 'open lane' operates, although in Australia it is called a 'sprint lane' and in New Zealand a 'passing lane'. These lanes do not operate on all tracks and have been a point of argument between many industry participants.
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Post by thegiss on May 17, 2007 10:30:38 GMT -5
Additionally, due to purse structure (and teh above mentioned reasons) many of these horses are able to race far below their true class in their first few starts.
Muscarra has been doing this for years... don't remember the trainer a few years back who accidentally switched two of the NZ breds he bought
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Post by trackrat on May 17, 2007 13:38:56 GMT -5
When Yonkers used to run the trotters for 1 and 1/4 miles, I used to zero in on these horses when they shipped back to Northfield, figuring that they were more conditioned because they had been racing more than a mile and they might benefit from a shorter race at Northfield. Granted, this was not foolproof logic because they still had to beat the other horses, but it was a handicapping angle that was useful. It was also valuable to see trotters that stayed flat the entire mile and a quarter at Yonkers.
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