Breed match race.

I found this match race between a QH and a TB and thought it was really interesting. I especially like how different their strides are but they stay right there together.

well of coarse the tb wins. If that would of been a 350 yard one the QH would of wooped him lol. can you tell wich breed I like better lol =) that's awsome that you found that, do they still do the match races even??

I didnt have sound, and I totally thought the one on the outside was the QH...He's so stocky looking

Wow that was close! He didn't win by much!

No, I don't think so. As far as I know, the NTRA no longer recognizes match races and hasn't since in the 70's after Ruffian. I think the only way to get a match race now is to do it without the approval of any racing organization. I may be completely off base though.

ya, I don't think they do any more either. They did have a match race between a thoroughbred and shaq.. I think or some other basketball player, I don't remember how long ago. Shaq won because they gave him like 1 minute head start and the finish line was only like 350 yards away or something lol.

OK, so, how come all the QH's I've ridden haven't wanted to go faster than a slow jog?

probably western pleasure trained....

I find that really fascinating. I mean, the QH was bred for sprinting and yet he BARELY lost by a nose. He looked like he was tiring, so it seems like the TB probably would have caused a bigger margin if the race had been longer, but still, considering the vast differences in the way they're bred to race, I'd half consider the QH to be the "true" winner.

My grandpa used to own a big ol' Anglo-Arab gelding named Lyn Day-V. He had a friend who bred Thoroughbred racehorses, and he actually used to take Day-V over and use him to help train. His friend was absolutely furious that Day-V wasn't purebred Thoroughbred, because he was faster then any horse he owned (haha, not because he was better but because he wanted to race him!). My uncle clocked him at 65kmh (40mph) pulling away in his truck once.

Haha, I don't know why that story was particularly relevent, I guess I think it'd be interesting if we DID race more breeds instead of just Thoroughbreds being the "main focus".

Griswold was actually a 3-time AQHA distance champion who specialized in racing around the turn at 870 yards, and Valiant Pete was freakishly fast at short distances and still holds the Thoroughbred world record for 4 1/2 furlongs. So they were pretty evenly matched at the distance which is what made it such a great race. Valiant Pete was owned by a farm down the street from me and I used to go visit him before the farm shut down...unfortunately he passed away last year, though.

There have actually been several match races since Ruffian, but none with top level horses. It's not because they're more dangerous or anything, I think it's more that people just see them as pointless now. Instead of going one-on-one, people would rather have their top horses face off in big stakes that mean more for their stud value and year-end awards.