When weight is important!

[Thunder Gulch]

It's just so hard to handicap weight because it affects different animals to varying degrees. Without a way to quantify it or knowledge of how a horse performs with given weight assignments, I honestly don't give weight much thought. It has been proven time and time again that high-weight horses in handicaps win far more than the low- weight carriers.

[philcski]

Weight matters when I'm trying to decide between the Big Mac super-sized combo or the Caesar salad next door.

[AeWingnut]

There is something to weight but not too much. The reason many bug boys have such a high success rate is the weight allowance. Are they winning because they are lighter or because the trainer puts him up when the horse is ready and he wants every advantage. Weight allowance goes away and so do the mounts.

I believe that weight is more important on soft turf than it is on firm or fast dirt.

Another belief is that weight matters in longer races. I think it also matters in short races because you have less time to get the horse to relax. Ben told that weight makes it difficult to relax.

for some reason I have a song by White Lion stuck in my head

Originally Posted by AeWingnut

There is something to weight but not too much. The reason many bug boys have such a high success rate is the weight allowance. Are they winning because they are lighter or because the trainer puts him up when the horse is ready and he wants every advantage. Weight allowance goes away and so do the mounts.

I believe that weight is more important on soft turf than it is on firm or fast dirt.

Another belief is that weight matters in longer races. I think it also matters in short races because you have less time to get the horse to relax. Ben told that weight makes it difficult to relax.

for some reason I have a song by White Lion stuck in my head

If Weight matters how come the Fall High Weight Sprint held at the Big A each year has not shown any signifigant time difference from other sprint races of equal caliber horses?

If all horses are burdened with much more weight than normal shouldnt the race go in a much slower than normal time on all occasions?

The weight differences that makes up much of N. America racing is insignificant and has never been proven to mean anything. Many old time trainers, or some current ones too, believe it does. However a 1200 lb animal with weights evenly distributed on its saddle would not notice the weight differences.

Now if you strap ankle weights on the horse it might.