Another Standard should be "No Turf Raced animals qualify for Greatness".

Secretariat getting beat multiple times by olders and winning off on the turf pretty much illustrates the quality of the turf animal and general turf competition.

In the "Invasor Thread" someone mentioned Ouija Board as a great one? The mare lost more races than she won. Assuming she was good on turf as far as turf horses go can an under .500 turf record speak any more eloquently upon what turf racing really is?

It's a pace crap shoot sprint to the finish while trying not to get blocked while you lose ground.

On the other hand Invasor was undoubtedly a good "modern horse" and probably should be allowed to breed. However having it all end with a sesamoid is a little troubling.

richiebee Wrote:
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> Although it would take the fun out of endless and
> sometimes educational debates
> (Hey, this big Invasor debate seems to have kept
> anyone from mentioning
> Biancone's problems at Keeneland), it is possible
> that Racing could set
> standards in certain areas,and Greatness/
> Immortality could be quantified to an
> extent.
>
> 1) Minimum qualifications for a colt/horse to
> enter stud duty: Lets say for
> example that no horse would be allowed to enter
> stud in the US unless he was
> a) a stakes winner or b) graded stakes placed or
> c) had minimum earnings of
> $300,000 and d) had to have started 10 times. You
> can play with a, b, c, and d
> however you want, but the end result would be a
> stouter gene pool and a possible
> end to equine early retirement.
>
> You could still have stallions standing that did
> not meet the qualifications
> listed above, but their progeny would not be
> permitted to compete in Graded
> stakes races.
>
> 2) Minimum requirements for Eclipse Award winners
> in all categories including
> Horse of the Year. If no animal in a certain
> category meets the stated
> requirements, whatever they might be, no Eclipse
> is awarded in that category.
>
> 3) Minimum requirements for entry into the Racing
> Hall of Fame.