Richardson Weighs In on Triple Crown

While the horses are still sorting themselves out for the Belmont, I thought it might be educational to revisit a recent article from the New York Times (May 17) in which Dean Richardson, Barbaro's surgeon and an excellent horseman, expresses his opinion on racing 2 and 3 year olds, while their bones are still technically developing.

To set the record straight, Richardson does not mince words. "It is a fact that colts and fillies that race as 2-year olds perform better than those who start racing later," he says. "Athleticism and maturation are determined predominantly by genetic factors." Training is important to keep your horse healthy but training is not going to make a horse a champion if he does not have the ability.

"Proper training and conditioning in young thoroughbreds prepares them better for what they are being asked to do: genuinely hard work. It is unequivocally more likely for a horse to have certain types of injuries if they are a racehorse. There is no getting around that. But keep in mind that horses that simply live in pastures and do no work at all may break a leg or otherwise injure themselves," he continues.

As for the big question as to whether or not competing in the Triple Crown races puts younger horses at risk, Richardson comments: "There is no answer in a scientific sense. Anecdotally and historically, it is clear that horses in the past raced this frequently on a regular basis. Today's thoroughbreds do not race as often as they did decades ago. Some say it is an indication that today's thoroughbreds have been selected too aggressively for speed and not soundness."

To those who worry about the distance of the Triple Crown races, I only note that the Preakness is /16 of a mile shorter than the Kentucky Derby. It is the Belmont, at 1 1/2 miles that is the true test of champions since there are few races at that distance on the American racing calendar.

And therein is the true answer. To win the Triple Crown, a horse has to be a champion and those are few and far between. Putting the races farther apart by a week or changing the age limitations is not going to make true champions appear any more quickly. You either have it or you don't and if you have it, you can win three races at three different distances at three different tracks, five weeks apart, at the age of 3.