Re: Drug-busting (423 Views)
Date: February 26, 2005 10:53AM
>My theory on this is the fact that grass racing is all about late pace which may detract from the advantage gained by "juiced-up" horses on dirt. <
I agree.
IMO, the evidence that turf racing is very different from dirt racing is almost overwhelming. Yet many horseplayers handicap them the same way.
Granted, if you are focusing on in form horses with fast final time speed figures you are going to stumble onto a lot of winners on turf.
However, the demands of turf racing are much different than the demands of dirt racing. That is why we see 3yo fillies beat Grade 1 older males on turf at 12 furlongs in Europe and they would get carted away in an ambulance if they tried that on dirt in the US. A top notch fresh filly can run very fast for 3 furlongs and some of the time that's all they need to do on turf.
Turf races often turn into a 3F sprint between very fresh horses that weren't used much pre stretch. It's often all about position and closing kick acceleration.
Post Edited (02-26-05 14:17)