King George and Queen Elizabeth Stakes Day

edgt said:
Can anyone here remember a horse with stringhalt standing at stud ?
Is this the reason Goliath was gelded ?
There was resistance for years allowing geldings to run in Group 1 races.
Memories of Knockroe, Bedtime, Teleprompter and others not getting their chance in these islands and having to go further afield to prove their worth while Kelso, Forego and others blitzed through their careers stuck in the craw of a lot of racing fans.
How seriously this was taken was shown when a leading Irish trainer received a three month ban for winning a colts only pattern race with a gelding fifty or so years ago.
Thankfully common sense prevailed and we all got to enjoy Vintage Crop , Cirrus des Aigles et al.
Last week we had You Got To Me winning a classic wearing a tongue tie.
Connections said that she had no respiratory issues but it helped her concentrate....
Group 1 races are championship races to help develop and improve the breed.
In my time there was always a pre race parade, blinkers were considered a "rogue's badge " and red hoods were confined to nursery stories .
Nowadays anything goes, the Irish 1000 Gns this year had more runners in red hoods than not; hardly a good sign of the times.
Should there be a ban in "aids " (tongue ties, blinkers, red hoods etc) in Group 1 races to preserve and improve the breed anyone ?
Click to expand...
Would you apply such rules to fillies and mares in NH races too?
 
Yes I would, unpopular and all as it might be.
Maybe it talking through my pocket but I always thought US Navy Flag winning those Group 1 races with blinkers and tongue tie was a bad omen for the breed, and a bad way for the breed to progress.
 
Back
Top