Why are horses not fit enough for their targets ?

[erhaab1965]

I dont know anything about training horses but why do some horses miss their intended targets through lack of fitness.In todays age of all weather gallops can anyone explain why they cannot get fit.There are many examples each year , most recently Wooton Basset R Fahey's 2000 Guineas contender , hes had over half a year to prepare yet with 2 weeks to go he states hes missed 2 weeks work. If i was training for next years Olympic games , there would be no excuse for turning up out of shape ,so why is it applicable to horses? Genuine question

[jayalexander]

Re: Why are horses not fit enough for their targets ? Possibly a virus of some kind could hit the stable?

[Blair Boy]

Re: Why are horses not fit enough for their targets ? Could it be something as simple as a horse not eating up or being lazy? Doing so could cause a set back to the training schedule.

[Trotter]

Re: Why are horses not fit enough for their targets ? In the case of Wooton bassett my reading of what Fahey said is that the horse had a setback (presumbly a bit poorly or had a small accident) which meant they couldn't work him for 2 weeks until he recovered That's understandable It's a bit less understandable these days running horses which will 'come on for the run'..............ie that are not fit. But it happens all the time, trainers even tell interviewers that the horse will come on for the run (ie I haven't done my job properly) and even worse..........as punters we 'expect' horses to come on for a run. We really should'nt, we should expect them to be ready when they tuirn up at the track

[diamond1924]

Re: Why are horses not fit enough for their targets ? LISTEN! Thar nat masheeans.

[erhaab1965]

Re: Why are horses not fit enough for their targets ? I wasn't specifically refering to Wotton Basset just using him as an example , i just dont understand why horses will need the run when punters are waging bet on them.They should be fit for the job or not race at all. Back in the 90s John Gosdens horses would always need the run and that was always reflected in the betting , but now he has many first timeout winners , which is the way it should be. Look at State of Play trained by Evan Williams for the Grand National , his previous race was the previous Grand National and this year he got placed again , which goes to show you don't need a recent run to be race fit. I appologise to anyone that trains horses if this sounds like a crock of horse manure , just my opinion.

[Gingertipster]

Re: Why are horses not fit enough for their targets ? Some horses are at their best after a long break, some aren't. If backing State Of Play, I'd think twice if he had had a prep run. As Erhaab says, some trainers are good at getting their horses fit without a prep run. Peter Chapple-Hym has a better strike rate first time out than second time. As Far as Wooton Bassett goes, Fahy does well both first and second time. Is in good form at the moment, so doubt if it has anything to do with a virus. Doesn't take much to set a horse back a week or two. Although - and may be I am reading too much in to it - but WB is already a winner in France; and the Poulains (French Guineas) looks nowhere near as competitive as Newmarket, especially with Frankel in the latter. Would not be at all surprised if he ends up there, along with Dream Ahead (for ground reasons). Connections of Wootton Bassett have already gone for a couple of money making Sales races, instead of more prestigeous (yet less valuable) Group races.