"A mile is the true test for a thoroughbred"

Grey

Grey

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Scaramanga said this on another thread:

(... plenty of old hacks around the town here, myself included, will argue that a mile is the true test for a thoroughbred race horse.)
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Given the town in question is Newmarket, home of the Guineas, it is understandable if there is a local preference for the 8f trip as the true test of a race horse.

Personally I think a Gr1 over 10f is needed to complete any horse's portfolio. It is the trip over which middle distance horses and milers can compete together.

What do others think?
 
The biggest races of the season are in Paris over 12f in October and nowadays 10f at Ascot also in October.

The blend of speed and stamina is always preferable to just speed. It's why people are aroused at the thought of Frankel going into the unknown.
 
i personally think it is actually the true test

it sits midway between sprints and middle distance

it could be argued that 12f will soon be the new leger trip in breeders minds

if you average every race run in the uk it works out at an average of 8f;)

alternatively

if we say that 5f is the ultimate speed test and 14f is the ultimate staying trip..not extreme staying trip as in 2.5miles..then you could say that 9.5 or 10f is the ideal test as its midway between the ultimate trips
 
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Grey said:
Scaramanga said this on another thread:



Given the town in question is Newmarket, home of the Guineas, it is understandable if there is a local preference for the 8f trip as the true test of a race horse.

Personally I think a Gr1 over 10f is needed to complete any horse's portfolio. It is the trip over which middle distance horses and milers can compete together.

What do others think?
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I guessed that conclusion would be made when I posted that remark Grey. In all honesty though my point had no parochial bias. I believe the straight mile is a true test of both speed and endurance, and I think quite a few others do too.
 
I think 7f is the equine equivalent of the 400m in human athletics, where you have to hold sprint speed to beyond the breaking point of a normal sprinter.

The straight mile requires less speed than shorter distances, but it calls for more courage because with no bend to negotiate the vista is clear all the way to a distant winning post.

Mind you very few courses outside Britain have a straight mile (Maisons-Laffitte, Deauville, and then what else?) and on normal circuits the 10f trip is probably not so different.
 
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Are we really suggesting that the likes of Arkle, Kauto Star have somehow been improperly tested as a result of not racing at a mile?

Or that those horses who find themselves too speedy or too slow for a mile are somehow lacking?

Bolt and Gebresellassie are poor champions because they failed to possess the requisite blend of speed and stamina for 400m?

We are really having such a discussion?
 
Maybe I should have pointed out I was referring to a 'true test' for flat racing thoroughbreds.

...Beyond that I'm sticking to my contention. :)
 
FAO Grey. Just to let you know I've replied twice to your message. For some strange reason -despite the two replies- there is nothing showing in my 'sent' box. :confused:
 
I think 7f is the equine equivalent of the 400m in human athletics, where you have to hold sprint speed to beyond the breaking point of a normal sprinter.
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And as with athletics, its just that distance alone for many

I ran fairly good standard sprints in my youth and simply couldnt handle 400m at all. Hopeless at it and yet was ok over 800 upwards
 
People call 5f and 6f horses "sprinters", but they're not, really, it's just that 5f is generally the shortest distance over which thoroughbreds are raced.

But really, 2f would be more of a proper sprint distance, and I'd call 5-6f performers "sprinters with a bit of stamina", and milers as approximating to a mix of speed and stamina, ie true middle distancers.

That is why I'm not at all surprised when "sprinters" such as Mr Prospector, Danehill and Pivotal have proved well capable of producing plenty of winners over 10f or further - why wouldn't they? After all, the word "sprinter", in horse racing terms, is merely a function of the arbitrary distance range within which thoroughbreds get to race.
 
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