What did I do wrong

[J.P Dogood]

This has been happening to all my 2 year olds but I think this one hurts the most.

Lei has a top 5 (I think) workout time at 5 furlongs on synthetic and then ran like a schlub in her first race. Stakes LB at the moment. I know I didn’t run her in a barrier but felt like between all the workouts and the week 9 gallop she should’ve been prepared. Any thoughts are appreciated

https://www.simhorseracing.com/horse.ph ... ID=1691486

[Sara Julin]

Maybe the ones in front is stakes too and possibly freaks?
First week in router is super competitive!

[Anthony Zappulla]

Also broke inwards isn't the best of starts

[Nicole Marie]

Everyone is always excited to debut their routers. The ones in front of her might have also been stakes or freaks. She might also just have needed a race for experience. That first round of route races is always a bloodbath.

[Nicholas Johnson]

In the first week, you can get a hodge podge of different outcomes. Like, my other stakes ran like allowances, while my allowances ran like their stakes. Even my freak decided this week wasn't the week to even show out.

Frankly, I don't hold much weight in the first week for the horses who don't run well. They just need time. So, believe me when I say, it was nothing you did wrong.

[Kelly Haggerty]

What everyone else said. But also, barrier trials provide not just fitness but experience, so that can give a horse an edge. She'll develop and in the meantime you can make yourself feel better by looking at examples of horses that earned a bunch and won SC or Simmys but didn't have the best debut. Chin up!

[Tim Matthews]

I’ll echo the others and also say she probably needed more work her 2yo year. I’m looking at one timed workout and two gallops over a 10 week period, which may have caused her to lose fitness and allowed others to have an advantage. No barrier trial necessary; normal training is fine.

Edit: just to be clear, debuts ARE a crapshoot and don’t matter long term.

[J.P Dogood]

Well this all made me feel much better. I just couldn’t remember seeing virtually all my best 2 year olds debuting this poorly. Here’s to her second race!

[The Steward]

Post race, she has a fitness level of 88. Some of the horses that beat her are nearly at 200.

[Jon Xett]

Post race, she has a fitness level of 88. Some of the horses that beat her are nearly at 200.

Interesting to note that there is an actual calculation of a horse's fitness level. jX

[Tammy Stawicki]

Yea on the fitness note while the horse did indeed have a lot of training as a yearling it had very little as a 2yo so likely lost most of the fitness it built up as a 2yo. I try to consistently train all my horses until they start racing. They don't need barrier trails (and in my experience based on another thread barrier trials are actually not a great way to get them fit) but they need something.

[Carole Hanson]

I will say, I forgot to barrier trial my 2yos this season and saw a significant drop off of my horses breaking their maidens first out. I know for sure they were all fit as heck since I jog and work them once a week. Barrier Trials for experience points seem to be a great idea too.

[John Smith]

I will say, I forgot to barrier trial my 2yos this season and saw a significant drop off of my horses breaking their maidens first out. I know for sure they were all fit as heck since I jog and work them once a week. Barrier Trials for experience points seem to be a great idea too.

Interesting as i just assume they waddle in the msw as long as they can place or show… maybe week 16 crack that maiden… in trs I suppose they can reasonably win nw2s but for the drs breaking maiden usually means their career is over, for my barn at least.

[Carolyn Eaton]

Yea on the fitness note while the horse did indeed have a lot of training as a yearling it had very little as a 2yo so likely lost most of the fitness it built up as a 2yo. I try to consistently train all my horses until they start racing. They don't need barrier trails (and in my experience based on another thread barrier trials are actually not a great way to get them fit) but they need something.

Similar - I give them weekly works until they start racing (last work tends t be 10-13 days prior to first race); productives are galloped routinely for fitness in case they improve and I'm not stuck trying to get them fit for their first race

[Diane Townsend]

For 2yo routes I do timed work every 2 weeks, the last one being W8, and then a gallop on 9.1