Originally Posted by King Glorious

To be honest, I didn't know if the mile race at Laurel would be two-turns or not. But, IMO, a trainer can use workouts to find that out. It's not too difficult to simulate race conditions in a workout and it's not hard at all to get a horse to work two-turns. My main goal would be not to get the horse too drained before the big day. I've long disagreed with the theory that a horse has to run at 9f before he can run at 10f. I don't think the Florida Derby distance helped Barbaro win. I don't think the Arkansas Derby distance helped Smarty win. I think either would have won even if their preps had been 8-8.5f. I'm a big believer in the fact that either a horse can do something or they can't.

If I did want to see an actual race at two-turns though, I'd substitute the Lexington for the Derby Trial.

Originally Posted by King Glorious

I guess that's not too surprising since I'm not a trainer. By the way, can u tell me which Derby horses u have trained so I can see the type of schedule u have used?

Originally Posted by Cannon Shell

Despite not having any Derby quality horses I do know enough about training to know that it is NOT easy to simulate race conditions in a workout and two turn "experience" in the morning is virtually useless in regards to two turn experience in the afternoon. Of course you wanted a fresh horse coming into the Derby which is why your schedule called for a mile race 7 days prior? This whole subject is not really pertinent because different horses call for different schedules.

A lot of times the only schedule that matters is the one the owner plots and King if you are the owner, the trainer is in for a whole lot of trouble.