When the horses parade postward for Saturday’s 132nd running of the Preakness, many in the throng at Pimlico and in the national television audience will take a forlorn fleeting glimpse backward and remember what happened to Barbaro one year ago.
Overshadowed by Barbaro’s up-and-down struggle for survival that began when he broke down shortly after leaving the starting gate and ended when he was euthanized in January is the unsolved mystery of when he took the misstep that shattered his right hind leg.
“He might have hurt himself when he burst through the gate the first time,” said Jim Tafel, the Barrington owner and breeder of Street Sense, who on May 5 succeeded Barbaro as the winner of the Kentucky Derby. “Who knows?”
But what everyone in racing knows for certain is that today’s thoroughbreds are much, much more fragile than their counterparts of 50 years ago. Many tracks across the country are converting to artificial surfaces, such as the new Polytrack at Arlington Park, to try to reduce the number of breakdowns significantly, and trainers are curtailing the racing careers of their best horses.
Contrast the pre-Derby careers of the winners of the Triple Crown races of 50 years ago with those of Street Sense and Barbaro and last year’s Preakness winner Bernardini.
The 1957 Derby winner Iron Liege ran in 17 races before the Derby; Preakness winner Bold Ruler ran in 15; Belmont winner Gallant Man ran in 12.
The Derby was the sixth race of Barbaro’s career and the eighth of Street Sense’s career. Bernardini didn’t run in the Derby and went into the Preakness after only three races.
According to Larry Bramlage, the on-call veterinarian at the Triple Crown races, the average horse in the U.S. makes 21 lifetime starts. That’s more starts than horses make in the major European racing nations (England, France and Ireland), Japan and Australia but, as Bramlage pointed out, “considerably less than the starts horses raced in the ’50s, roughly half the number.”
“We raise five times as many horses as we did then and we have roughly the same number of races,” Bramlage said. “People try to get in where they can be competitive and horses are trained harder and compete harder.
“All of American society has moved from day-to-day competition to huge events. In racing, that’s the Triple Crown and the Breeders’ Cup.
“A win in the fifth race is not something you’re going to breed for. The foundation stallions of the thoroughbred breed were horses that were durable and productive campaigners. Where we are now is phenomenal performance and big events. The current stallion roster is popular because they get brilliant horses. All that goes into the decreased number of starts and horses being more fragile. The breed has evolved into a less durable horse.”
Bramlage cited the 8-year-old gelding Perfect Drift, who finished third in the 2002 Kentucky Derby, as a throwback to the horses of yesteryear. Continuing to compete at the highest level, he has made 44 starts in his career, won 11 times, set a track record at Arlington and earned $4,679,185.
“That horse is phenomenal in his durability and the quality of performance,” Bramlage said. “But Perfect Drift is not on everybody’s tongue as he should be. We’re looking to who’s going to win [the Preakness].
“If you win a handful of the right races, you become so valuable a stallion commodity the owner can’t pass up the opportunity to take you to the breeding shed. We’ll use Bernardini (the 2006 Horse of the Year now standing at stud) as an example. … The quality of mares Bernardini would get [to breed] is by far the best when he’s at the top of his game. If his star on the racetrack faded, the book of mares he gets may decline, which decreases his chances of being a very good stallion.
“We breed fillies with short careers to stallions who have short careers. Why should you expect longevity?”
Disappearing act
In the last 50 years, the thoroughbred has evolved into a fragile breed. The horses in today’s Triple Crown races don’t run nearly as often as the iron horses of yesteryear and their careers are significantly shorter.
%% YR DERBY WINNER ST
1957 Iron Liege 17
2006 Barbaro 5
2007 Street Sense 8
PREAKNESS WINNER
1957 Bold Ruler 15
2006 Bernardini* 4
BELMONT WINNER
1957 Gallant Man 12
2006 Jazil 6
ST–pre-Derby starts
*-didn’t run in Derby %%
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nmilbert@tribune.com
* For more on the Preakness, go to chicagosports.com
