When the gutsy filly Arabian Queen beat the John Gosden trained English Derby winner Golden Horn in the Grade 1 Juddmonte International run at York, England it was quite a surprise. The female three year old was a 50-1 longshot, while Golden Horn was the heavy 4-9 favorite to take the $800,000 first prize pot.
However, fillies beating colts and geldings is not normally a surprise, neither is it a rare occurrence in the UK, Ireland and Europe. Fillies and mares race alongside males, and beat them, on a regular basis. Females generally get a weight allowance from colts and geldings when running against them. The list of fillies who have won world class Grade 1 races like the Prix De L’Arc De Triomphe is substantial, in fact the last four runnings of that race have been won by fillies. The great french racehorse Treve has twice beaten some of the best “boys” in the world when taking the Arc in both 2013 and 2014.
Then just three days later in California, the great American mare Beholder was much the best when she made a bunch of Grade 1 Males look positively pedestrian, as she sublimely parked in the Pacific Classic at Del Mar. A stunning victory, with an “Arazi” like move pulled on the home turn.
Racing secretaries, trainers and owners of horses should take note. Here most of our races are framed either for colts and geldings only, or for fillies and mares only. Yet at many tracks across the country we have an acute and critical shortage of horses and problems filling races with the required minimum of five entries. When these races barely fill, bettors and fans have little interest. They are generally tired of five and six horse fields that offer no value betting opportunities, a mundane rather than interesting handicapping challenge and limited chances to make a significant score. Trainers and owners are repeatedly frustrated when because of a lack of entries races “don’t go”, and their primed, fit and ready horses are denied a run.
So – why not take those notoriously hard to fill/short field race types, combine the sexes and take entries from both boys and girls. Create a weight allowance for the girls, and increase the purse money, as two races are now being combined into one. We are not talking about implementing this idea for all races of course, just those races which, when restricted to horses of one sex, racing secretaries know habitually suffer from low entries and small fields.
The result would be fuller fields, intriguing handicapping contests and increased overall betting handle. The number of races per day may of course be reduced as a result, but so what? Personally I would much rather watch a program of seven or eight entertaining larger field races than nine or ten boring short field affairs. I think the majority of horse racing fans would feel the same way.
Which innovative racing secretary is going to give their track a shot in the arm by giving this a try?
Watch the great filly Treve win her back to back Arc De Triomphes