Re: Once upon a time..... (795 Views)
Posted by:
bobphilo (IP Logged)
Date: September 27, 2018 07:24PM
I am of the minority opinion that horses that break through the gate are at no disadvantage providing they are quickly stopped and do not engage in a game of tag with the outrider before the race. The front of the gate is purposely designed to open with little force just to prevent a horse from hurting itself if it breaks through. A horse should be more hindered by hitting the side of the gate, which does not have the same give, at the start of a race and yet these horses seem to win their share of races.
A poster on another site who disagrees with me is doing a study allegedly proving that breakthroughs are at a disadvantage is including the confounding variable of horses that run off after breaking through. The result of such a flawed study cannot be valid. Is anyone aware of a fair study to determine the effect of breaking through?
Fio Rito's win was impressive enough without assuming he overcame a non-existent. disadvantage. I'm sure that as the horse was full of pep, he surely would have run off if and run his race before the start if not for the great catch of the asst. starter. Lets give the rider some credit for stopping him too.
RIP, Les.
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