More cats….
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Quarter miler in college on the track team, I set the pace, fast out of the blocks, and run fast as I could. I would hope that I will outlast the competition. I would set teh pace for the relay team to give us a head start. I take it you NEVER ran competitively in college as a sprinter. Because I am not sure what the point of your question is, and it makes no sense.s
. If my opening half a mile is 49 secs. And yours was 52 secs; why would you not have enough energy to; pass me? You ran 4 seconds slower than me. My question to you is why would a trainer run a “: rabbit,” in the older races to ensure a fair pace for the come-from-behind/pace horses, given these horses are running slower than the pacesetter? I did not think that question was that complicated.
I think you are assuming all horses have equivalent ability and speed, for starters. Some horses are just faster/better/more fit than others. Also, horses are individuals, which I know is obvious, but they have their own preferences how they like a race to go.
Every horse can only maintain its absolute top speed for about 1-2 furlongs. The hard part of racing is knowing when to use that 1-2 furlong advantage.
A front running horse uses that advantage to get out to the front and hopefully stay there. But frequently what happens is they use up all of their adantage trying to stay up front, then are overtaken at the end.
A stalker uses a lot of energy laying close to the pace, but not quite as much as the front runners use. The stalker hopefully has enough energy reserves to overtake the tiring leaders at the end.
A closer saves a lot of energy at the race laying WAY off the pace. The problem is, if the front runners don’t tire themselves out enough, two things happen: the front runners still have enough energy to go pretty fast at the end of the race, making it harder for the closers to overtake them. Also, the amount of distance the closers have to make up is greater if the front runners are still traveling fast, so they often just can’t make it to the front before the end of the race.
That’s why you put a rabbit in- most front runners need to be on the lead. They don’t do well behind other horses with dirt being kicked in their faces. They get frustrated, they give up. So you put the rabbit in the race to go really fast and force front runners to use up their advantage earlier in the race. Then they have nothing left in the tank coming down the stretch and the closers can easily overtake them.
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In response to your question, in the 1973 Belmomt, didn’t Secretariat run each quarter mile faster than the one before it? He got faster and stronger as the race got longer. It guess it depends on the horse or person.
That’s why Secretariat’s Belmont is still considered one of the greatest races of all time.
The majority of horses are not Secretariat.
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No I never ran competitively in college. Please tell us all about it. And while you are at it try to think about how much longer you could have held that pace if you didn’t have to go as fast to hold it.
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No, that was Secretriat’s Kentucky Derby, not Belmont, where he ran each successive quarter mile faster than the previous.
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That was also ONE horse 50 years ago so relevance to typical race strategy is questionable.
Sorry I brought up the casts a few posts ago.
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And the difference between 52 and 49 is 3. Just sayin’. I love reading these threads to learn.
Hmmmm
Dr Papp has also shared the majority of what is supposedly his necropsy on her twitter account.
She had this to say about how she got the info.
Take that as you will.
Although not related to his cause of death, I found it appalling that Havnameltdown had a bad worm infestation - according to what Dr. Papp reported, enough to have damaged the intestinal tract. This is the care a top runner gets?
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I have anecdotally heard that some racetrack trainers do not deworm because it interrupts workout schedules. Friend had a horse on the track that died of some kind of intestinal issue caused by worm infestation. Ugh.
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