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With A I taking over why not program robots to drive horses.It would be a giant chess match & they could actually think.They wouldn't be giving holes or going dead.
When we used to drive with the slower bikes, we had to "rate" a horse if we were on the front. We had to do this because unlike the bikes of today, horses would tire if going all out. However, by rating or slowing down the pace, it gave the closers a chance to get in position to make a run late. With the bikes of today, the leader is basically balls to the wall and doesn't tire and it becomes mathematically or physically impossible to make up the ground conceded at the start.
You keep on dismissing the start of a race where the horses at the rear concede 7-10 lengths. With the fast bike there is no way to make up that ground as the horse will not get tired on the front. With the old bike the horse on the front will tire sooner since it has used it's energy to get to the front as well as using the more demanding bike. This will give the horses who haven't used up their energy yet to close in on the tiring leader.
You keep dismissing the end of the race when the horses at the rear are to tired from pulling that old bike to make a charge.I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree.
I guess you haven't watched races of today where the horses in the rear pace last quarters in 25 or 26 seconds and lose ground to the leader. This did not happen with the old bikes. Front end did not stand up like today.
With the race bikes of the fifties, sixties, and seventies the drivers sat upright and much closer to the horse. Look at the old pictures. Frank Irvin could but his hand on Bret Hanover's rear same with Stanley Dancer and Albatross. This resulted in the horse that was seventh at the rail to be much close to the lead horse then today. The horse seventh at the fence in 1965 had much less ground to make up to catch the lead horses. That resulted in more come from behind winners.
I'll agree with Ron Piercehttps://harnessracingupdate.com/pdf/hru/hru042918.pdf?v2
It must really suck being smarter than several hall of famers.
I could go either way, and trust me I am an expert on shafts...I have seem them all. Back in the 80's I loved the feel of a nice wooden shaft. Then came these now shiny...hard...me tal shafts that everyone wanted. I find the bearings make a big difference. The all come with different quality balls inside the bearing. I always found if you get a really good set of balls any kind of shaft will do.
Yes they were masterpieces.The Haughton Faber all hickory bike was the best looking most comfortable ride ever made. Put it behind a sound good gaited horse and it felt like you were being rocked to sleep in your mother's arms.