Do most great racehorses not run many races in their career?

Question

I'm no racing expert, but I've noticed that with horses that win the Triple Crown for instance, like Secretariat, they retire after 10-15 races or so. It just seems to me that this is a rather small sample space to rank horses against each other among the all-time greats.

Answer 1

kmnmiami covered all the bases as to why.The only thing I'd like to add is,as was said they can make millions at stud and the money they would make by continuing to race would never equal that.Therefore it's a business decision.Guaranteed money from stud fees versus the risk of catastrophic breakdown from continued racing.

Answer 2

Yes, it's true.  The great ones race in very few races before they're retired.  The reason is because racing is pretty risky.  Every time the horse runs a race, it runs the risk of getting hurt.  Injuries are pretty common in horse racing... most of them are not life threatening and can heal and the horse can return to racing... but then there's the extreme injuries that result in the horse's death... like Barbaro.  It's extremely likely that a horse will suffer some kind of injury in its racing career... anything from a bruised hoof to a broken leg.  It's not likely that any particular horse will suffer a broken leg and have to be put down, but every year, a number of horses do suffer broken legs and are put down.  You never know when disaster is going to strike and who it is going to strike...  you might have the healthiest colt in the world, but it can still break down.  The reason that the great horses run so little is because you don't know when the next horse will break down and die... you always believe that it won't happen to you... but the fact is, you don't know when and to whom something bad is going to happen... so to avoid disaster, the great horses stop racing as soon as possible.  A great stallion will make millions of dollars a year... a dead stallion makes none.  It's just safer to retire sooner rather than risking a serious injury.

Racehorses that aren't very good still only race a small number of races in their careers, albeit more races than the great horses...  most horses race until they're between 4 and 6 then they retire... the ones who aren't very good will be sold and trained to be show horses.

The only racehorses that actually race for a long time are the really good geldings like John Henry and The Tin Man... the ones that can come back year after year and really enjoy racing and win a lot.  Funny Cide is like that too although he didn't race as long as the others.  A gelding can't go stand at a barn and make foals and you're not going to sell a great racer like John Henry as a show horse...  there's more benefit from keeping them racing longer... it's the only way they'll bring in money and it keeps the horses occupied.  Funny Cide was retired, but still lives at the track and is now used as a lead pony!  He loves it at the track... it's all he's ever known... so long as he's happy, they'll keep him there.