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.