SIM urban myths ?

[Dom Behan]

During my time here I have locked on to a couple of things (rightly or wrongly), picked up in the forums.

1. Do not debut in a Stakes race ...... I don't recall my ever having done so.
2. Track conditions have negligible impact on performance, about same as jockey selection .... This one I totally oppose, I send my runners to Whisperer and enter them as per preferences, adjusting schedules if required. I even bought a farm in mid Atlantic to give the mud lovers better options in Europe and Americas.

Would appreciate any constructive comments for and against either of the two points. Any other myths out there?

[Art K Stables]

Both are myths

[Danny Derby]

The biggest urban myth I've heard is that Art Vandelay worked harder than anyone else.

[Darcy McBride]

Based on my personal experience, I have started horses in a Stakes race. Not often, and the ones I have started have been very good.

I don't worry much about runners that "like" wet tracks, as they seem to do well on dry tracks as well. For example, Kentucky Storm likes wet tracks, but has rarely had the chance to run on a wet track. He's done quite well on dry tracks.

If a horse "loves" the off tracks, I am a bit more careful when placing them. Some don't seem to mind dry tracks, but others do terribly.

Anyway, that is my experience. Now if you want to open up a forum on superstitions, I could talk all day.

[Dan Kauffman]

Do not debut in a stakes race — Myth, but only because there are clear exceptions to the rule. It's good advice 98% of the time.

Track conditions have negligible impact — 1. I think the impact is a little bit more than negligible, and 2. If you have a "Loves Dry" or a "Loves Mud" horse and don't at least try to maximize that when possible, that's just poor training IMO. (That said, if you have a freak, you probably shouldn't worry about the conditions.)

[Dan Kauffman]

Oh, and the biggest myth I ever heard on here was that Bernard Kwok was the best trainer in the game. It was held by a small minority, but still, it was completely absurd.

[Tammy Stawicki]

In terms of debuting in a stakes races.... someone has to win that stakes race. I do this somewhat regularly with my mixers (don't with my turf milers as there are no week 7 stakes races). That being said I will only do it with horses that I think are going to be truly special (have top workout times). Also if a horse doesn't win said debut stakes it will go to maiden races until it does win as I don't want its confidence ruined running in rates over its head.

In terms of the second one I think it definitely makes a difference and have seen horses that regularly ran higher speed figures on their preferred surface but it doesn't mean a horse can't win on a nonpreferred surface. Case in point my mare Synchrony preferred wet but won 2 Steward's Cup on a fast track (the whole mixer steward's cup always being run in a dessert is not kind on mud lovers/likers). So I'd say definitely try to get your horse on it's preferred surface (and I do horse whisperer all of mine) but if you really want to run in a race don't let the surface stop you particularly for a really good horse. I also don't ship my horses all over the world to get their preferred surface.

[Gwayne's World]

Steward bred horses will soon be a thing of the past.

[Dylan Christensen]

Oh, and the biggest myth I ever heard on here was that Bernard Kwok was the best trainer in the game. It was held by a small minority, but still, it was completely absurd.

You're next

[Dan Kauffman]

Oh, and the biggest myth I ever heard on here was that Bernard Kwok was the best trainer in the game. It was held by a small minority, but still, it was completely absurd.

You're next

What does that mean?

[Diane Townsend]

The headshot curse

[Tammy Stawicki]

The headshot curse

Whereas the brag about your horse on the forum curse is VERY real. Never say something good about your horse on the forum before a big race.

[Carole Hanson]

The headshot curse

Whereas the brag about your horse on the forum curse is VERY real. Never say something good about your horse on the forum before a big race.

BUT, if you complain about your horse on the forum, they’ll suddenly find the will to win

[Laura Smith]

I almost never start in a stakes unless my horse is clearly far superior to the rest of the entries. I've seen many good horses start their careers with a stakes loss, followed by another stakes loss, and then you'll put them into a MSW and sometimes they don't even win that (when they should have won on paper) and then their confidence is in the toilet. I'd rather just win the maiden first thing and get it over with. But as Tammy said, someone has to win those early stakes, so...

I also remember the Steward saying that the weather effect is equal to the jockey effect, which I believe is a maximum of 0.2 points. So yes, it makes a difference. But it's a negligible difference compared to all the other factors that go into the result of a race.
Also consider that if you're shopping around for, say, a wet track for your horse that "likes mud"... other trainers are probably doing the same. The likely result is a field full of mudders, so your own mudder may not have any advantage at all.
I only consider weather when there are two equally suitable races for my horse with two different weather conditions. Well, I guess I also try to choose circuits with their dominant weather in mind, though first class shipping makes this less relevant than it used to be.

[Nena Olson]

The headshot curse

Whereas the brag about your horse on the forum curse is VERY real. Never say something good about your horse on the forum before a big race.

BUT, if you complain about your horse on the forum, they’ll suddenly find the will to win

Unless they are in my barn. I could get hit by an astroid and my horses still don't care enough about me to win. I wish my horses cared about me as much as other barns horses do No love.

If I debut in a stakes race, I felt my 2yo Turf Router was a super freak and went to Japan or I have a really nice AW Miler on my hands.