Staying Races

My eye was caught by an interesting comment made by Mr Hawaii which I reproduce hereunder :

'now watch that race with 4 runners and compare it to The Gold Bowl yesterday and you wonder why punters think racing is rigged - I will bet that Let It Rain would never have won had the field sat 3-4 lengths behind him for that marathon trip'

The last part of his comment may well be true and it raises the following question :

Why is this so?

I have the following theories :

1.) South African racing does not encourage the breeding & racing of stayers (horses that are effective from 2400+). Instead staying races are inserted on a somewhat random basis as something rather like an occasional curiosity. Inevitably they lead to the races being contested by horses where every option over lesser distances has been exhausted; more 'hit and hope' than planning.

2.) The industry is once again obsessed with a 'quick ROI' on bloodstock. This is clearly illustrated by Ready To Run, $1 million races etc. This ill considered strategy first raised its head in the early 90's with the introduction of two R1 million races for 2 year olds but was later abandoned. If you can point me to any of the participants from those races that trained on into anything special (or even survived being forced early) I would be happy to hear from you.

3.) Given the above most horses that contest staying races do not actually really stay. In order to circumvent this problem the majority of staying races are run at a crawl in the hope that they can produce a short sprint in the straight and mask their innate shortcomings. (The Cape Crawl is a fairly obvious example of this).

4.) It therefore follows that most jockeys have little experience in riding stayers effectively. Instead they often strangle long striding horses who would appreciate being allowed to find their rythmn and bowl along at a medium cruising speed for the entire race; running the finish out of horses with explosive finishing bursts. I notice that many riders simply see the 400 or 200 metre marks as traffic signs where they must immediately draw the stick and start flogging away no matter what is left in the tank. Its often 'nothing' by that point whilst tiring horses often lose balance, action & concentration when the whip is drawn.

In the UK, for example, top stayers are more often than not ridden from the front (or very near to it) where they dictate the higher cruising speed which eventually grinds down the chasing pack. Horses like Yeats & Big Red were classic examples. Its quite an experience to watch these races and observe the chasers come under pressure one by one and then fall away.

5.) Horses only reach maturity at 5 so stayers really should not be pressed until well into their 4 year old season. This makes it exceptionally difficult for trainers under pressure from restless owners who by then might have been feeding their pride and joy for nearly three seasons without anything to show. As a result I often shake my head with incredulity when I see horses by Silvano, Ideal World etc., being raced excessively as young horses. The vets must be absolutely ecstatic.

6.) Back in the day the Cape, for example, had special provisions for stayers. It was called Progress Scale E or something to that effect and was for races over 2400 or further only. If you entered at the bottom of the scale your horse was penalised only a pound or so for a win. This enabled the developing stayer to win a successive number of races before progressing from the bottom to the top of the weights. They were also programmed at intervals making it possible to plan a career for a stayer.

I am open to correction but the Cape, for example, offers only about 6 maiden staying events PER ANNUM so it follows that only a handful of stayers per year can get out of the maiden ranks over their preferred distance.

7.) Given all of the above you might think it a good idea to look for a stayer at the next sale. You might be right (as they often go 'cheap' or unsold) but for the following :

I only involve myself in stayers as I like staying races and have no inclination to EVER spend big money on a racehorse. For most spending 'big' is your first and last mistake.

I go through each catalogue in detail looking for those elusive stamina horses. I have simple principles which I apply. Most times I draw a blank because some breeder inevitably decides to insert a 1000m pedigree right into the middle of a developing stamina line to 'speed up' the yearling. Bang goes another potential stayer which turns out neither fast nor stamina rich.

Lastly - you would be ill advised to race your stayer too often. In much the same way as marathon runners should not compete in races every month or so the same applies to stayers. Planning therefore becomes an important dimension of a stayers' career as there are limited opportunities to compete.

Jockeys M Yeni (KITTYS DESTINY) and R Munger (ODD ROB) were questioned regarding their race tactics and instructions, which were noted and accepted by the Board.

Excellent post Garrick.

Leopard Strike

Sylvester wrote: Leopard Strike

Thanks, Sylvester. But I rather think you underlined my point as Leopard Strike - who was beautifully bred at the time by Elliodor x Let Kiss - only had 5 career runs.