Thoroughbreds are athletes not machines, and like any athlete who physicaly puts a strain on there body it is prone to injury. Let me ask you a question Horse Racing Fan. Do you think that any American thoroughbred today or with in the past 23 years could go to Britain and compete in the Ascot Gold Cup?.(excluding Easy Goer who probably could have) The Ascot Gold Cup by the way is contested at 2 miles and 4 furlongs. Of course Smarty Jones was retired for his stud value and he has gone off to stud to make more unsound fast stamina defecient little Smarties and the same with Afleet Alex, Point Given the list goes on. When the thoroughbred breed was being developed the breeders ideal parameters were they were looking for a horse that mixed speed with stamina and was durable. The breeders of today are so blinded by money that they cant's see that they are sending unsound speed ball's unto the track. Thorughbreds were never fragile like they are now, and were never intended to be fragile they were intended and purposley bred to go long distances fast and be durable enough to do it alot and possibly be a military charge or riding horse or something else. Thoroughbreds now are bred specificaly for racing and then they go to stud farms. It is a more recent in the past 25 years or so that American thoroughbreds have been fast and fragile. The breeding industry is what will be the downfall of thoroughbred horse racing. Alysheba clipped heels with Bet Twice in the Derby, it was as bad as Afleet Alex. Alysheba was just fine, Afleet Alex was a fragile horse. Not blaming him for that, not put him down.
