Question about late blooming ??

[The Harlequins]

If a horse is indeed late blooming ,will its 4yr old workout times show improvment from its 2yr old times.

Frank.

[Laura Ferguson]

If the horse has actually bloomed, AND all things being equal (correct equipment, same amount of rest, etc), the workout times should be faster - although there's always a little bit of a range on those times, even with all variables being equal. Note that it may not be a tremendous improvement, and if the variables aren't the same, that could explain the 2yo work time still being faster, even though the horse has improved.

But, if the horse is 4 and racing, you'll see the improvement on the track without having to work the horse and wasting a start (with the benefit of picking up a paycheck), and honestly, you could just gallop/train under harness and get a definitive answer as to whether the horse peaked without tiring the horse out as much as a workout would.

[The Harlequins]

Thank you Laura

[Laura Smith]

I find that actively racing older horses almost always work faster than they did as yearlings or 2YOs, even if they haven't shown measurable improvement. So as Laura said, racing or galloping are better measures.

[The Harlequins]

thx to both Lauras lol