Autumn and 2yo

[Nikola]

Well, I finally got the hang of the 2 year olds, and now in the autumn I realise there more 4yo horse races then there were in the past couple of months, and the 2yo horse races are not that frequent any more. How long will this last? Are 2yo horse races only in the summer? Thanks

[BillyHills]

Re: Autumn and 2yo Nikola, Cant say i totally agree with your findings to be honest. All i will say is that at this time of year the two year olds are now eligible for handicaps (nursuries) and also start to run over longer distances, this is just basic logic, as they get older and stronger they have more stamina, in the summer they run over 5f and 6f and now they run over a mile. You tend to get lots of Maiden races also for those late maturing 2 year olds and those that obviously are staying horses for next year and not sprinters. Some of the 2-y-o's do run in Nov/Dec on the AW, but bear in mind they all become 3 on Jan 1st. The next batch of young ones are seen again in April. Races for the older horses tend to be of low class, 4 or 5 and even some banded meetings for horses rated 45 and lower, especially on the AW tracks. The banded meetings will start when the 'proper' flat racing finishes in early november. Just about now is the time to get into Jump racing, the bigger stables are beginning to run their horses and the 3yo's are being entered in Novice Hurdles. Decent meeting at Chepstow coming up and the first big meeting at Cheltenham in a few weeks. Hope that helps somewhat? BH