by JoeW » Thu 21 Feb 2008, 23:42:24
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('I_Like_Plants', 'I')t's all breeding, genetics. Some horses just end up with a really good body geometry and a good gait. Plus there are mental aspects.
This is why some of the folks get paid a lot of money to let one of their stallions do work they happily do for free!

Secretariat was juicing, in my not-so-expert opinion. No horse is that fast. When they autopsied him, his heart was twice the size of a normal horse's heart. I think some drugs have that the same effect on humans. Why does no one report this? Probably because there's no smoking gun. It's a conspiracy [and yes, I do know that I am now a confirmed peak oil whack-job just by posting a conspiracy theory here].
I think the whole sport is probably crooked. I remember back to when Smarty Jones ran the Belmont just a couple years ago. That was f'ed up. Coming down the stretch, it was clear that Smarty's jockey gave him the "all finished" signal and was moving out of rhythm with Smarty. As soon as the horse sees Birdstone out of his right eye, he picks up the pace--but it's too late. There is not enough track left for him to accelerate and catch up to Birdstone. I think I lost $10 on that race.
I still love to watch the horses run anyway.