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Originally Posted by cmorioles
It isn't just the time, it is the fundamentals of the game. On a very slow dirt track, speed horses still have an advantage. Check the winterized surface at Mnr, or some of the slow days at Crc and a few others. It isn't just about the time.
What has really happened is that 6f races are now like 7f races, 7f races like 1 mile and 1/16 races, and 1 mile 1/4 races are like 1 mile 1/2 on dirt. I don't even care about the betting part. It is certainly possible to figure this stuff and make money.
Imagine though, if you will, a sport where horses like Seattle Slew and Dr. Fager wouldn't have been able to win a route race. Safely Kept and Xtra Heat would have won a few, but hardly been dominant. The list could go on and on. That is what you have at Keeneland and Delmar right now.
There is nothing I like more than seeing a horse go fast and dare the others to try and keep up. The best horses ever could run fast for a long time. Now, that is absolute death. Horses are basically being dragged back and begged not to run until the very end. Why are horses running fast in the first place? It is the survival instict, no? Watch horses in the wild. You won't see a lot of them fighting to be in the back when being chased by a lion.
Again, I'm all for saving a horses. There just has to be a better way than this.
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The track is slow to be sure. Speed horses are at a big disadvantage to be sure.
BUT, if Seattle Slew in his prime had been in that race yesterday, I am pretty confident that he could have handled that bunch........no matter the surface.