Assault

[The Indomitable DrugS]

To get an idea how much tougher the old time horses must have been - here's a look at Assult's worktab from 1946...the year he won the triple crown.

He had 24 workouts between Feb 3rd and March 30th of his 3yo season - 22 of the 24 workouts came between the distances of 4 furlongs and a mile.

He won the Wood Memorial on April 20th, finishing 4th in the Derby Trial Stakes on April 30th, won the Ky Derby on May 4th, and won the Preakness on May 11th.

After four tough races between April 20th and May 11th, he was shipped to Belmont Park on May 12th.

He worked 4 furlongs on May 16th, 3 furlongs on May 18th, 4 furlongs on May 20th, 8 furlongs on May 22nd, 3 furlongs on May 24th, 10 furlongs on May 25th, 4 furlongs on May 28th, followed by a 12 furlong work in 2:32 flat on May 29th.

So, after winning the Preakness on May 11th, he was put through a series of 8 published workouts before winning the June 1st Belmont by 3 lengths in 2:30 4/5ths

After winning the Belmont - he was given an insanely long rest of 3 days before he returned to the worktab on June 5th, and again on June 7th, and again on June 9th, and again on June 11th, and again on June 13th, before winning the Dwyer by 4.5 lengths on June 15th.

Assault managed to stay around long enough to win the Brooklyn Handicap at age 6 and was retired after a 7th place finish in the Hollywood Gold Cup in December of his 7yo season.

I'd love to see a trainer today try and work a horse 8 times in between the Preakness and Belmont.

[ateamstupid]

Good and interesting info. What I'm wondering is whether we've reached the edge of how much we're going to baby thoroughbreds, or if things will get even more ridiculous in the next decade or so..

[The Indomitable DrugS]

Scott Lake trained horses work about once every blue moon. It's all about letting them chill - walk and jog them a little - and inject away.

[Bobby Fischer]

you could probably still get a lot out of today's thoroughbred if you had it from a young age and really developed it to handle a workload.

You can't claim a horse with problems with the sole intention of dropping it and giving it pain killers and whatever performance enhancer and work it more than once or twice between races if at all.

[dalakhani]

Originally Posted by The Indomitable DrugS

Scott Lake trained horses work about once every blue moon. It's all about letting them chill - walk and jog them a little - and inject away.

As you know, Lake's barn is packed with claimers. It would be interesting to see stats on barns comprised like his and how often those trainers work their horses.

[Indian Charlie]

Originally Posted by ateamstupid

Good and interesting info. What I'm wondering is whether we've reached the edge of how much we're going to baby thoroughbreds, or if things will get even more ridiculous in the next decade or so..

Ever heard the phrase that things have to get worse before they get better?

Well, I don't think that's accurate anymore, as it's a rare thing these days that actually gets better after worsening more and more.

[miraja2]

Originally Posted by The Indomitable DrugS

I'd love to see a trainer today try and work a horse 8 times in between the Preakness and Belmont.

Or how about entering (and winning) a 10f stakes race in between the Preakness and the Belmont? That's what Citation did.

[The Indomitable DrugS]

I know.

I was under the impression that those old horses worked much less often than today's horses - and were raced into shape by building fitness and stamina through racing instead of workouts.

That actually isn't true I'm discovering.

If you tried to train a stable of modern race horses that way you'd probably have ruined the careers of every one of them before you even get a race out of them.

[zippyneedsawin]

How do you look up the workouts for a horse that ran in 1946?!?

I'd love to know the work pattern for Kincsem if you have the time.

[Pedigree Ann]

These horses in the old days galloped a lot every day, a couple of miles, so they were fit before they started working. And because they were fit, they COULD work and race more often. Modern race trainers have no idea of what horses are capable of doing if brought up to it correctly. They should all go to a 3-day event on Cross-country day, with roads and tracks, steeplechase, and cross-country to see what a fit horse can accomplish without falling apart.

[freddymo]

Originally Posted by Pedigree Ann

These horses in the old days galloped a lot every day, a couple of miles, so they were fit before they started working. And because they were fit, they COULD work and race more often. Modern race trainers have no idea of what horses are capable of doing if brought up to it correctly. They should all go to a 3-day event on Cross-country day, with roads and tracks, steeplechase, and cross-country to see what a fit horse can accomplish without falling apart.

BTW Ann those the trainers and vets or those amazing cross country/ steeplechase horses inject like crazy also.

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by Pedigree Ann

These horses in the old days galloped a lot every day, a couple of miles, so they were fit before they started working. And because they were fit, they COULD work and race more often. Modern race trainers have no idea of what horses are capable of doing if brought up to it correctly. They should all go to a 3-day event on Cross-country day, with roads and tracks, steeplechase, and cross-country to see what a fit horse can accomplish without falling apart.

Dont you think that of the thousands of "modern" trainers that one of them would have tested your theory? I always find it amusing what we "modern trainers" are doing wrong. My barn is open to anyone who wants to actually see what it is to train horses as opposed to those who just theorize what we should do.

[Pedigree Ann]

Originally Posted by zippyneedsawin

I'd love to know the work pattern for Kincsem if you have the time.

Did you know that one of her Grosser Preis von Badens originally finished in a dead-heat? And that they raced it off, the full distance, the same day? She won, of course.

[zippyneedsawin]

Originally Posted by Pedigree Ann

Did you know that one of her Grosser Preis von Badens originally finished in a dead-heat? And that they raced it off, the full distance, the same day? She won, of course.

I knew she finished in a dead-heat.. I didn't know it was re-run.. the SAME DAY!!

[The Indomitable DrugS]

Originally Posted by zippyneedsawin

How do you look up the workouts for a horse that ran in 1946?!?

I read through a copy of Hall of Fame trainer Preston Burch's 55 year old book 'Training Thoroughbred Horses'

If released today - I believe the title would now be called 'How to kill thoroughbred horses with old fashioned methods from pre medication days'

[RolloTomasi]

Originally Posted by The Indomitable DrugS

I read through a copy of Hall of Fame trainer Preston Burch's 55 year old book 'Training Thoroughbred Horses'

If released today - I believe the title would now be called 'How to kill thoroughbred horses with old fashioned methods from pre medication days'

Ironically enough, it was Assault's full brother, Air Lift, who broke down in his career debut at 2 (trainer was Max Hirsch) that led to that famous editorial someone posted a month or two ago entitled "Death of a Racehorse".

Of course, being a full brother is in truth more like being a "half brother", genetically speaking that is, so technically its not that ironic.

But poetically it is...

[MLC]

Originally Posted by miraja2

Or how about entering (and winning) a 10f stakes race in between the Preakness and the Belmont? That's what Citation did.

I know that Citation won that race. However, today's trainers and owners would never take that chance. Too much emphasis on the horse's value after racing and the horrific thought that a loss might lower that value.

[Pedigree Ann]

That is a problem with racing today - breeding is more lucrative than racing, which is opposite of what it was in those days. Stallion fees couldn't match what a top horse could make in a year on the track and retirement was for when he ceased being a top horse. The trend started the other way in the late 70s/early 80s; the Breeders' Cup was an attempt to put up a big enough purse to keep the racing alternative attractive and it really hasn't worked because the purses haven't (and couldn't) keep up with the breeding fees available with 100+ mares bred and shuttling. When I started to watch racing, 40 was a full book of mares - Northern Dancer had like 22 foals (of which 11 or 12 were SWs) in his first crop.

[miraja2]

Originally Posted by The Indomitable DrugS

After winning the Belmont - he was given an insanely long rest of 3 days before he returned to the worktab on June 5th, and again on June 7th, and again on June 9th, and again on June 11th, and again on June 13th, before winning the Dwyer by 4.5 lengths on June 15th.

This was the part that stood out to me. After horses run in the 12f Belmont these days trainers usually shut their horses down for months. Giving a colt five workouts and then running him in a 10f race - all within two weeks of the Belmont - struck me as a bit shocking even for the 1940s.
On the other hand, Assault seemed to have trouble cracking the time of 2:06 for 10f as a 3yo. Now, I know absolutely nothing about track conditions in the 1940s, but unless they were running these races on the Del Mar polytrack, that doesn't seem particularly fast.