Wednesday, August 3, 2011

The Thoroughbred

FILLIES, TWO YEAR OLDS

TYPE OF RACE SHORT LONG
STK Aug 14
1xmc/nw2/Opt.Clm. 75,000 Aug 10
1xmc/Str Alw 50,000 Aug 10
Mdn Aug 11, 14, 15, 21(T), 21 Aug 14(T), 19(T)
Mdn (NY) Aug 12, 14, 17(T), 21 Aug 21(T)
Mdn 75,000 Aug 10(T)
Mdn 60,000-50,000 Aug 12
Mdn 50,000(NY) Aug 19
Mdn 35,000 Aug 10

Thoroughbred races are subject to 'conditions' of the race.  The above is a section taken from an upcoming Saratoga Condition Book that trainers use to consider what races their horses might be eligible to run in.  Conditions are basically the eligibility rules governing who can enter a particular race.  This is to establish a bit of parity in that a really great horse is not pitted against an inferior horse.  Horses are graded by 'class.'  Decent, competitive racing is hoped for.

Unraced, and horses who have never won a race, generally start out in 'maiden' races.  Despite maiden denoting a unmarried female, maidens in horse racing are just horses, either colts or fillies, who have never won a race.  There are some sub-levels to maidens, but we don't need to go into that.

The next level is usually a 'non-winner of one, other than maiden...'  This is generally where horses need to be entered after they've won a maiden race.  In this type of race, everyone has 'broken their maiden' and is therefore a winner at some level.  Thus, everyone is racing against horses with similar achievements.

The 'levels' go up, generally to 'non-winners of three, other than...' and the waters here are getting deeper.  Horses with more races and more success. Tougher competition. 

Generally, few horses ever win more than 4 races.  The 'level' conditions generally stop at three.  After that, horses need to go into stakes races, graded stakes races, or conditional allowance races.  This is where the purse money, and the competition is stiffest.  Of course, a really good horse might go straight from their maiden win to something else.  It's up to the trainer.  You can skip around, but once passing through a condition, you can't go back down. 

All kinds of people Twitter.  I came across one that said it might be a good idea to refer to divorcees as 'non-winners of one, other than,' etc.

Since this generally stops at three, and marriages might not, how would you classify Elizabeth Taylor if she were a race horse?

Silly question.  We've all known she was a stakes horse. 


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