It seems to me that the breed is getting weaker ,they breed for speed ,and this seems to knock horses out before their time,years ago they ran races longer the JCGC was @ 1 1/2 miles the the fillies ran 1m in the acorn ,1 1/8 miles in the Mother Goose and 1 1/2 miles in the Coaching Club American Oaks,some races in NY for handicap horses were run at 2 miles or more.Derby horses years ago ran 20 times or more before the first Saturday in May.The Whitney's ,Vanderbilt's and Phippses controlled whom was bred to whom.We will never see horses as durable as they were in the past and its a shame ,from a fans point of view ,this game doesn't mean as much to me as it used to.Who wouldn't have liked to seen what a horse like Point Given could have done age age 4.Cigar was the only t hing close to horses in that era as far as durability goes.There was something special about waiting for a really good 3y.o.'s ,4y.o. campaign