Breeding not drugs will be downfall of this sport

[Minister of Weed]

1:47 a half mile in The Battle.
Yes drugs help a horse push its boundaries to the max,help them forget those boundaries,  but it is good breeding that will lead to this sports downfall.
Breeding sets the boundaries.
Started in the 90s after two solid decades of breeding the best to only the best.No more breeding the old family mare to a neighbors local winning fair sire.
Like a snowball rolling down a hill the breed just kept getting better and with it came speed. Speed that the current Standardbreds body simply is
not genetically inclined to handle.
What’s going to happen in ten years when 1:45 is the new “wow that’s fast but it’s what you need to go to win these races” is the norm? Horses legs will explode at a rate that will make PETA give up on those whales.

[wisha roder]

the times continue to drop on the standardbreds unlike with thoroughbreds and i see no higher incidence of major injuries in the breed.  just a solid made breed.

[Brown jug]

the breed continues to push forward
there are some people who understand the bloodlines and get results
clearly the breed can withstand the speed
i would suggest that the build and conformation of the horses have improved
if not they would not withstand the speeds but most seem to be able to
but i will agree that expecting a poorly conformed and average bred horse to go those top end speeds is unlikely and will not end well

[Superfecta]

the breed continues to push forward
there are some people who understand the bloodlines and get results
clearly the breed can withstand the speed
i would suggest that the build and conformation of the horses have improved
if not they would not withstand the speeds but most seem to be able to
but i will agree that expecting a poorly conformed and average bred horse to go those top end speeds is unlikely and will not end well

Outstanding steroids certainly make a huge difference in appearance and durability.

[TTitans1]

Exactly Superfecta! These things are getting pounded with steroids and blood builders early now. Drugs will still be the downfall because the reproductive organs will be harmed from this. These horses today are chemically made to go the speeds they are going. The breeding is better argument is complete fucking nonsense! You can trace every horse today back to the same bloodline at one point. They bred plenty of top studs to top mares through the history of the sport. When I arrived at Pocono in 1994, I had 2 Open horses who won plenty of races in 1:56 and it was a big deal. In 2002 I won 7 Opens in no better than 1:52 with some very classy horses. Now, the cheaper claimers go that and they pace under 1:50 there on a regular basis and have even trotted under that. How about Buffalo Raceway which has the tightest turns in the country pace in 1:52 and 1:53 regularly! You think those guys are looking into some special breeding to do that? GTFOH!!! It is fucking drugs, period! As the slots increased, the drugs got better. The top money guys made more and put more into the chemistry. The part that makes me laugh is when one of the big guys like Burke get a positive, half of the horsemen who are getting beat by him constantly go to bat for the guy and say"Ronnie wouldn`t risk it." Are you fucking retarded? He risks it because he gets it thrown out every fucking time! Look at Baffert, Same fucking thing. 27 positives in the last 3 years but"oh the level was so small it wouldn`t enhance the horses performance." Bullshit, the beta showed up because it was probably part of a cocktail that didn`t break down in the horses body the same. That shit happens. Time dropped as the money got better and the drugs got way better in harness racing. Time has not dropped in the thoroughbreds because they always raced for the good money. The slots have been around for about 20 years now. The average time has dropped around 8 seconds since then. Anyone who wants to say that is because of the breeding or the bikes is a fucking dipshit, they are juicing tooor they havenever trained a horse in their life and have no fucking clue what they are talking about!