An awful trend of dumping tradition and shortening races from 3200m (2 mile) to 2400m (1 1/2 mile).....?

Question

in Australia. I think this has come about mainly because of our breeding situation, which has always concentrated on speed rather then stamina. But with the Perth Cup distance being reduced today we now only have 5 races at 3200m (2 mile) in a racing calendar. Is this trend happening elsewhere or i this a isolated problem?

Answer 1

you said 5, 2 mile races, i can only name 3......... Melbourne Sydney and Adelaide cups......... can you please tell me the other 2?

personally i think we need more true staying races, other wise the foreigners are going to dominate our staying races.... the j**s and the poms will dominate the Melbourne cup and the kiwis will come for the sydney and Adelaide cups! maybe with Darley buying woodlands they can mix n match there stallions and mares to produce a few good stayers

Answer 2

What ever happened to "classic distance"? The good thing about a longer distance is the horses run slower and actually have less breakdowns as they train for strength and stamina, not just speed. It's happening everywhere, too bad for the racing public and the horses

Answer 3

the only place i know of that runs horses in a race of 2 1/4 miles if ellis park which is on the last day of the meet.  they run twice around the track and the track is 1 mile and 1/8.  this has been a tradition there for as long as i can remember and there is a few horses that like to run that distance but not many.  as of anywhere else in america i dont think they run that far, it is not the norm. so it must be a problem there.

Answer 4

That already happened in the US.  The Belmont is really our only major stakes race at 1 1/2 miles except for grass races.  Every other race is at 1 1/4 or less.  Apparently this isn't happening in Europe though... because they breed their horses properly.

Answer 5

I personally don't consider this a bad idea.  A 1 1/2 mile run is enough to wear out many racehorses, and so I imagine 2 miles would be incredibly hard on them.  Also, in such cases as the recent disaster at the Kentucky Derby, you can see that following tradition isn't necessarily best for the horses.  Traditions can be nice, but when they are at the expense of a living creature's health and/or safety, it is best for them to be abandoned.  Please, think of the horses.