Make Horses Prove Themselves First At The Longer Distance

Time and time again I see horses racing in Hong Kong that have turned in an excellent performance at a sprint distance of 1,000m or 1,200m, then switch to a longer distance and fail. Some horses simply are not strong past a certain distance. Just the way there are human sprinters in the Olympics and those that can run the marathon. That does not mean that they can perform equally well at both.

Particularly when a young horse turns in a big effort at 1,000m or 1,200m I will see the horse over bet when he steps up to a 1,400m or 1,600m event. These types of runners frequently fail, proving in my opinion to be a bad bet. 

My old adage is to let horses prove to me that they can go the distance before making a bet on them. If they show some form from the prior season proving they can get 1,600m and are now running at that distance. It would be a clue that they can get the distance. But to bet horses who are unproven at the distance, especially at a short price is generally a losing proposition. by Kerry Zangara