The Day Horse Racing Died

[Dahoss]

Originally Posted by scanman

Excellent post and your wife is a very smart a lady.

Regardless of what happened in the turn (and I still contend that it was the state of the track that caused the interference), all of the horses a few strides after the contact were back in stride and had every chance, if good enough, to go by Maximum Security. The simple fact is that they couldn't. They weren't fast enough. Races are run to determine who is the fastest. That's why the DQ was such an injustice. The fastest horse was not declared the winner.

Additionally, whatever new interest in ownership and/or fan base (if any at all) was completely lost as a result of the DQ in the Derby.

It's doubtful that the sport lost any of the "hardcore" fans/gamblers (which of course are a dying generation). It probably lost quite a few casual fans and absolutely discouraged any new blood from coming into the game.

Classic case of maybe taking one step forward, then definately taking five steps backward.

What are you basing your “whatever new interest in ownership and/or fan base was completely lost” opinion on?

I also think you greatly underestimate how hard it is for horses who have already run 9 furlongs, to regain momentum after checking. It just doesn’t happen often if ever. That is unless they are trained by trainers whose horses routinely have multiple gears.