Is the apparent frailty of the Thoroughbred due to unsoundness or to changes in training philosophies?

American racehorses do not race as often in 2000 as they did in 1900, 1950, or even 1980.

How much of that difference, though, is the result of a decline in actual physical soundness and fitness for racing of the American Thoroughbred and how much is due to the dramatic change in philosophy by American Thoroughbred trainers and owners?

That question was brought into focus by the decisions of the owners of Preakness Stakes (G1) winner Red Bullet and Peter Pan Stakes (G2) runner-up Unshaded to bypass the 1 1/2-mile Belmont Stakes (G1) on June 10. In each case, their connections cited their horse's lack of experience and the possible damage done to their future careers by racing too frequently. My, how times have changed.

In 1941, a horse named Whirlaway won a six-furlong allowance race at Keeneland on April 11, then finished second in the Blue Grass Stakes 13 days later on April 24. Racing Hall of Fame trainer Ben Jones was not satisfied with that performance because Whirlaway bore out badly in the stretch, so he ran the colt again five days later in the Derby Trial with the same result.

Jones then applied a full cup blinker to cure the colt's bad habit, convinced Eddie Arcaro to breeze Whirlaway through a narrow hole between Jones on a stationary stable pony and the rail, and ran him in the Kentucky Derby on May 3, five days after the Derby Trial. Whirlaway won by eight lengths. Seven days later on May 10, he won the Preakness by 5 1/2 lengths.

With a four-week gap between the Preakness and the Belmont on June 7, Whirlaway needed a maintenance work, so Jones ran him in a 1 1/16-mile allowance race on May 20, which he won. On June 7, Whirlaway completed his Triple Crown by winning the Belmont, his seventh start in 47 days.

That average of less than seven days between starts so debilitated Whirlaway that he ran only nine more times in 1941, winning six, including the Travers Stakes and the American Derby, earning him Horse of the Year honors. His future earnings potential was so damaged that he won only 12-of-20 starts at four on the way to setting a new earnings record of $561,161.

That was 60 years ago, you say. Not relevant.

Well, only 31 years ago a horse named Arts and Letters won the Blue Grass Stakes by 15 lengths on April 24, then ran second, beaten by a neck by Majestic Prince in the Kentucky Derby on May 3, nine days later. Fourteen days after that, he just missed catching Majestic Prince at the wire in the Preakness.

With three weeks to the Belmont, Arts and Letters needed a stiff work to keep him fit, so Racing Hall of Fame trainer Elliott Burch ran him in the one-mile Metropolitan Handicap on May 30, which he won by 2 1/2 lengths over older champion Nodouble. Seven days later, Arts and Letters won the Belmont by 5 1/2 lengths in 2:28 4/5.

Those five races in 36 days so damaged Arts and Letters that he ran only four more times in 1969, winning all four on the way to Horse of the Year honors. Anyone who doubts that contemporary horses race less often than their ancestors of 60, 30, or even 20 years ago need only consult a study published in the April 8 and April 15, 1995, issues of Thoroughbred Times. That article showed that average career starts per foal for American Thoroughbreds declined from a high of around 33 starts in the 1950s to 13.5 for foals born from 1985-'89.

That statistical study, however, did not answer the question why.

Veteran trainers from Henry Cecil in England to D. Wayne Lukas in America all complain that they are unable to prepare their horses as quickly or race them as often as they could 30 years ago. It is, on the other hand, undeniable that training techniques have changed dramatically since the days when Racing Hall of Fame trainer James E. "Sunny Jim" Fitzsimmons ran future Horse of the Year Seabiscuit 35 times as a two-year-old.

Instead of racing horses into shape, trainers are now much more inclined to work them to get fit. Trainers are also much more likely to bring horses to an absolute peak of fitness for a specific race, knowing that they cannot maintain that peak for long, rather than maintain their horses at a fitness level just below that peak for longer periods of time.

In 1997, Silver Charm lost the Belmont to Touch Gold, who skipped the Kentucky Derby. In 1999 Charismatic lost the Belmont (albeit on an injured leg) to Lemon Drop Kid, who skipped the Preakness.

This year, Fusaichi Pegasus had a rested, fit Red Bullet waiting for him in Baltimore and will have a rested, fit Aptitude test him if he runs in the Belmont.

Red Bullet did not race at two. Fusaichi Pegasus raced once, Aptitude and Unshaded twice each at two.

Whether that rampant inexperience among 2000's best classic horses is a consequence of equine or human frailty, however, is not entirely clear.