Now that the Flat season is back with us, I thought it would be useful to take a look at
The Flat Racehorse.
A Flat racehorse’s racing life usually begins as a two year old. All thoroughbred race horses are given an official birthday on 1st January, regardless of what date in the year they were actually born. A horse foaled in February and a horse foaled in June will both be officially considered a year old on 1st January of the following year, when one would actually be ten months old and the other six months old.
This can lead to considerable physical disparity in the horses in the early part of their careers, especially as two year olds. This imbalance may not be properly resolved even later during their three year old racing season. If you tend to back two year olds on the flat, then it is worth looking at the dates a horse was actually foaled. There are stats available that clearly show that two year olds foaled in January have around a 10% winning percentage and horses foaled in May is around 6%. As you would probably expect, the older horses have an advantage.
Most horses that begin racing as two year olds end their racing lives by the time they are five years old. Sometimes this is due to lack of ability or injury but also because they have been retired for breeding purposes.
I will continue to discuss the flat racehorse next time.
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