As the first races for 2yo's are a day away from running, i'm sure there are many players out there waiting with baited breath, waiting to see how their precious babies will run first time out. As for me, I dread the day they take their first steps onto a (virtual) racetrack. On Saturday morning, which is the time I will be able to check the friday races, I will know little more than I know today about my fresh batch of 2yo's. Sure I might be able to see signs of a 'dud' 2yo but I sure won't know who is going to be the next 120 rated superstar and neither will anyone else.
We can all spend hours analysing our 2yo's tw's and race ratings. Look up our best 3yo's first works and compare them to these ones and so on. But truthfully there is no 'magic formula' on how a top horse starts out in EQ. My top current 3yo, Stringybark Cottage now 128 rated, won the Sunrise Classic with a slashing 125 rating as a 2yo. His first tw was mid 60's and his first race was a fairly good 87. While I have a mare who started out with a 49tw and a first race of 69, yet went on to run 120 as an early 3yo. Others start out in the 70's, labelled as a hot 2yo then debut in the 90's but later on never get over 100 in HRR.
I could go on for ages about where my top horses started as 2yo's, most have all taken a slightly different path. Improvement I suppose is the indicator but even then some of the best horses take tw drops sometimes once even twice early on in their careers. The only true way to tell about a 2yo is to wait. Wait and wait and wait for the end of the season, when most of the good horses start showing little signs. But even then pixel ponies surprise us, jumping from a 90's tw to an over 100's within a week or two.
Basically all this ranting and raving points to one thing...I hate 2yo's! I hate them so much, it's not even funny. I hate the way they stand in their stalls all mysterious, maybe superstars? maybe useless claimers. I hate the way they look like champions one week when they tw welll and look terrible the next when their tw's drop. I hate the way they make people spend millions and even real money on their so called 'promises' and then go out of their way to disappoint them. I hate them full stop. Why do I get so excited my new 2yo's into the main barn at the start of every season, only to dispise the sight of the little beggars the next day? The only answer is 3yo's. Yep, one day these stupid little 2yo's are going to be 3yo's and that will be the day I fall in love with them all over again, like I did when they were little yearlings.
Note: There is the odd exception towards the end of the season, like Stringybark Cottage who I loved as a 2yo. I don't want him to read this and get mad... (yes pixel ponies can read)
