A good racing equid is like an elite athlete: spectacular but subjected to brutal efforts that often injure him and keep him in constant danger of premature withdrawal from an already short trajectory (he rarely exceeds three or four years in years). racetracks).
A good example of this fleeting glory is Frankel, considered the best thoroughbred in history. This English champion, owned by the Saudi prince Khalid Abdullah, retired in 2012, at the age of four, after having won fourteen victories in fourteen races for two years. Now he spends his days as a sought-after stallion: signing him for a mating is around 160,000 euros.
Regardless of this case, a racehorse is ready to debut at two years (minimum age allowed). At three he is in his prime, although some see their first test delayed to four years or more, due to various reasons: lack of maturity, injuries, illnesses, the owner’s finances … There is no limit to the number of races, but few take part in more than forty.
Given that these horses can exceed three decades of existence, the brevity of their sporting life is striking, although not so much if we stop at the stresses they suffer. They give the maximum in each race and maintain speeds of 55-60 km / h for more than 3,000 meters. At a gallop, its around 500 kilograms of weight fall completely on its front legs about 120 times every 400 meters. Their bones and muscles are under terrible pressure, injuries and fractures in the joints of the front legs are common and are the main cause of early withdrawal.
